On May 11 and 12, the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Board will have public hearings on the proposed cuts to rectify the County?s projected $174 million deficit for the 2011 Fiscal Year (FY).
The cuts, which were suggested by Superintendent Jack Dale earlier this year, will be voted on in an upcoming meeting.
Topics at the hearings will include the controversial proposals to cut elementary school band and string programs, high school freshmen sports teams and some early language immersion programs. Those three cuts will save the county a projected $9.8 million, a mere 11.4% of the total $85.7 million in proposed cuts.
Additionally, the proposal recommends cutting over 200 jobs and adding an average of 1 student per class, even though the county is expecting a 1,760 student population growth in the upcoming school year.
The final plan, once voted on, will be adopted by the School Board on May 20; the 2011 FY will begin on July 1, affecting the next school year.
History teacher Joanne Pendry, who has children in seventh and fourth grade, knows that cutting freshman sports and elementary band and strings cuts will affect her children.
“I?m concerned [with] the effect [cuts] will have on electives,” she said. “Music is a part of good, well rounded education.”
Pendry said she knows that the increased class sizes will affect her in the classroom, as “the rooms are all ready cramped as it is.”
“The biggest thing that will change is [the increase in] students,” fellow history teacher Matt Axelrod said. “It won?t really affect how I teach, but it will mean a lot more papers that I will be grading.”
Besides the addition of students, the budget plan proposes to increase the athletic and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate fees.
Amid all of the budget changes, this year?s graduating won?t feel the effect of the budget cuts.
“I know the budget cuts won?t affect me personally, but I empathize with underclassmen who won?t have the same opportunities as me,” senior Jennifer O?Neil said.
Jennifer?s younger sister, freshman Jacqueline O?Neil, will feel the repercussions of the budget deficit when she ends up graduating in 2013.
“Though I will have to deal with[the effects of the budget crisis] for the next three years, children younger than me are not getting everything they should,” Jacqueline said. “[They may not get] band, strings or foreign languages in elementary school like I did.”