Fairfax County Public Schools staff will receive most, but not all, of their planned salary increases under a revised fiscal year 2026 budget proposal shared last week by Superintendent Michelle Reid.
However, in order to preserve as much of the promised raises as possible, some positions and services will be cut after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors declined to approve Reid’s full funding request.
“I’ve tried to be as judicious as possible,” Reid said of the approximately $121 million in cutbacks.
During a budget mark-up session last Tuesday (May 6), the Board of Supervisors criticized FCPS leaders for agreeing to salary increases in newly negotiated labor contracts that they argued were out of step with the county’s current economic reality.
In the end, the board approved a budget that would transfer $2.7 billion to FCPS — an increase of $118.6 million from the school system’s current county funding that aligned with County Executive Bryan Hill’s proposal from February. Reid, however, had sought an increase of $268.3 million to help fund a $4 billion operating budget, mostly to cover staff pay raises.
When offset by $28.3 million in new state aid, FCPS faced a shortfall of $121.3 million that Reid needed to address in her updated FY 2026 budget proposal.
“This is not where I’d choose to be,” Reid told the school board on Thursday (May 8). She added that the new plan aims to “maintain momentum” on key priorities, including staff salaries.
Across-the-board salary increases of 7% agreed to during contract negotiations last year will be trimmed to 6% for teachers and other employees represented by the Fairfax Education Unions and 5% for workers not included in the collective bargaining unit. The changes will reduce FCPS spending by an estimated $33.4 million.
A change in the staffing formula for schools will eliminate about 275 positions, or an average of 1.5 per school, saving an estimated $33.3 million, but it will not require layoffs, Reid said.
“We have more than 275 positions currently open, so we believe we’re going to be able to place all staff in this situation,” she said.
Other proposed cuts include:
- Delaying purchase of new social studies materials ($15.3 million)
- Eliminating “classroom monitor” positions that had been added to support teachers during Covid ($13.2 million)
- Reducing the number of special education lead teachers at elementary schools ($9.3 million)
- Reducing central office expenses ($7.5 million)
- Reducing the number of advanced academic resource officers ($5.9 million)
- Reducing electric bus purchases and infrastructure ($2.8 million)
- Reducing non-local travel ($729,000)
While the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, one of two unions in the FEU, blasted the Board of Supervisors for not meeting Reid’s funding request, several school board members adopted a more measured tone at their May 8 meeting.
Dranesville District Representative Robyn Lady acknowledged the supervisors had tough decisions to make, as the county braces for rising unemployment and other repercussions of the Trump administration‘s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce and spending.
“We are kind of in crisis right now,” Lady said of the D.C. region’s economic condition. “These were tough decisions. It’s going to be hard. We’re going to have to adjust.”
Franconia District Representative Marcia St. John-Cunning said she’s hopeful the cuts as proposed will have “minimal impact on instruction.”
“Is it optimal? No,” she said. “[But] we have incredible staff and teachers in our schools — somehow, some way, they will make it work.”
St. John-Cunning voiced concerns about losing the elementary-school monitors, who aren’t licensed educators but have still played a major role since the positions were created in 2020.
“I can’t convey how integral they became,” she said.
Reid agreed that the monitors “have worked extraordinarily hard.”
“It’s a really difficult decision,” she said, expressing hope many of those losing jobs will find alternate roles in the school system.
The new fiscal year goes into effect July 1. The Board of Supervisors will formally adopt its FY 2026 budget for the county government today (Tuesday), while the school board is expected to finalize its budget package on May 22.
“It’s difficult work, but that’s why we are here,” said Board Chair Karl Frisch, who represents Providence District.
Frisch said that he hopes leaders at all levels of government, and the community, will come together in support of the school system.
“We need more help from everyone … to ensure we bring more resources into the system,” he said.
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