For the fiscal year 2015, Fairfax County Public Schools will face a budget deficit of over $130 million, the largest deficit it has ever dealt with, according to Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza.
Although Garza has not yet presented a budget to the school board, which must approve her suggestions, she offered insight in the issue to student journalists in a press conference on Nov. 20. She does not yet know what the school board will approve, but she will present a plan to it in Jan.
“Whatever happens will be very aggressively communicated,” Garza said.
Ryan McElveen, Member At-Large of the school board, said via email that the only extracurricular activity at risk of being cut is freshman sports, adding that fees might need to be re-instituted for remaining sports.
Not at risk are teacher salaries or potential positions available, according to McElveen.
“The School Board and Superintendent are fully committed to raising teacher salaries, and the proposed…budget will include a step increase for teachers,” McElveen said. “We will be working to find the money for this even in these tough financial times because of the importance of retaining and attracting quality teachers.”
The deficit, Garza said, was caused mainly by the “explosive growth” of the student population over the last 15 to 20 years. The school board, which controls all budget decisions, has not changed the amount of spending to reflect the number of students now in FCPS schools, a serious problem, according to Garza. As a result, the school system has found itself struggling with over-exhaustion of resources and a series of dated schools that require costly updates.
“We have been fiscally conservative primarily because the recession made us tighten our belts as much as possible,” McElveen said. “Now there are fewer efficiencies to be found, which means we may have to turn to more substantive programs and things like increasing class size ratios to find savings.”
In addition, state funding for FCPS has decreased to $21 million. This change, plus the mandated FCPS support of retired teachers that will eventually cost the county $110 million per year, has contributed materially in creating an unparalleled deficit.
Not at risk, according to Garza, is the healthy food program currently in trial at Marshall. The Statesmen Station, a fresher alternative to normal school lunches, is sponsored directly by the Department of Agriculture. If participation is high enough at the Station, Garza said, the healthy food program will continue to be implemented without a problem at other FCPS schools.
“There is a full menu of potential cuts devised by finance staff and the board that the superintendent will draw upon as necessary,” McElveen said.