Friday, April 26, 2013
Fairfax County's pre-kindergarten program will likely go another year without the funding it needs to shorten a wait list with hundreds of kids.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is ready to adopt the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget package, but some officials are unsettled by the lack of funding for the expansion of the Head Start program, which currently has hundreds of students on the waiting list. Through a mix of county, state and federal funding, Head Start provides free pre-kindergarten classes to students from low-income families, giving them the extra attention they need to be on par with their peers when they enter the Fairfax County Public School system. Roughly 1,500 kids are currently enrolled in the program — but more than 800 others are waiting. The program won’t receive any additional funding in this year’s budget because of worries that more funds will be lost in …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
School board asks Fairfax County supervisors for more money Tuesday to deal with growing pains and teacher pay.
Fairfax County Executive Ed Long has recommended giving the county's school system a 2 percent increase in funding over the transfer it received last year. But at Tuesday night’s public hearing on the county’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan, schools officials and advocates said it still wasn't enough. Fairfax County School Board Chairman Ilryong Moon kicked off the first day of public input on County Executive Ed Long’s proposed $7 billion budget plan, asking the Board of Supervisors for a higher transfer to the school system. Long’s budget, which raises real estate taxes and cuts funds to parks, libraries and some other services, provides the school system with $1.72 billion – approximately $62 million less than the school board was hoping …
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust sent the following to his constituents for comment on the Fairfax County FY2014 Budget.
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Saturday, March 30
Dear Dranesville Resident, It is budget season in Fairfax County. On February 26, County Executive Ed Long submitted his FY 2014 Advertised Budget proposal to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Attached you will find a document with a summary description of his proposed FY 2014 Advertised Budget Plan, along with a calendar of budget-related events and a summary of the Plan (see the media box at the right and click on the pdf). For details about the FY 2014 Advertised Budget, visit the County website at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dmb. The Board of Supervisors is currently conducting an extensive review of the proposed budget plan leading up to the Budget Adoption on April 30. This is the fifth year I have convened the Dranesville …
Community Services Board wants to know which services are most needed, wanted.
The Community Services Board wants to know which CSB services you think are most needed for you, your family and your community. The county is inviting the public to participate in a brief, online survey that is available until Sunday, March 31. The information participants provide will be compiled and considered by the CSB Board members as they make decisions that will guide the future direction of the CSB, according to the county. Fairfax County is in the midst of its next fiscal year budget process, and a series of public hearings on the budget will start in April. Stick with Patch for public hearing information and more on the CSB budget in the coming weeks.
Friday, March 22, 2013
A new tool from Supervisor John Cook's office will allow residents to design their own budget package.
Residents who think they can balance a budget better than their elected officials will get the chance to prove it thanks to a new tool introduced by a Fairfax County supervisor Tuesday. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) is launching a program over the next two weeks that allows residents to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan based on the current package proposed by County Executive Ed Long. [Learn more about the county budget. Attend Dranesville representative John Foust's budget town hall meeting at 7 p.m. on April 3 at the Herndon Council Chambers, 765 Lynn St.] Long has proposed a $7 billion budget that raises the real estate tax rate and eliminates about 90 county jobs. Long has also released a list of reductions to agencies…
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
School Board member Jane Strauss says the increasing number of students are a blessing: "I would much rather be in a community that is expanding because we have more children than be Detroit."
Fairfax County is facing its own budget woes for Fiscal Year 2014: Property taxes could rise as much as 2 cents per $100 of assessed value, bumping the average homeowner's tax bill, and County Executive Ed Long has said raises for employees aren't likely. But the county's struggles could also make Fairfax County Public Schools come up short on its own $2.5 billion advertised budget, officials said Tuesday as they met to discuss budget issues and priorities. It doesn't appear the county, which gives an annual transfer to the school board, can afford to give the board as much as it asked for this winter. In order to close a $169 million shortfall and prepare for the still-unknown effects of sequestration, County Executive Ed Long has …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Superintendent Jack Dale, some school board members say lower-than-expected increase in transfer from the county won't meet classroom needs.
Fairfax County schools officials said Tuesday they were surprised at County Executive Ed Long's lower-than-expected proposed increase in transfer to the school system, which will leave school board $62 million short on their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Just more than half of the county's revenues go toward Fairfax County Public Schools each year; nearly three quarters of the school system's annual budget relies on a transfer from the county. Long's proposed $7 billion budget includes an increase of 2 percent in transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools, or $33.7 million. Schools officials requested $95 million, a 5.7 percent increase in transfer, for a total of $1.78 billion in FY 2014, largely to fund what is expected to be an …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Facing hundreds of millions in deficits in Fiscal Year 2014, Fairfax County leaders try to plan around federal sequestration, unpredictable revenue.
As the leaders of Fairfax County and its school system sat together Tuesday to stare down upcoming fiscal years threatened by larger-than-normal deficits and the potential impact of sequestration, both groups agreed they would have to take a new approach in future budget cycles, one that relies less on what has been done in the past and more on multi-year budgeting and reprioritizing wants and needs — a "new way of doing business." "I think we have to look at things very differently and we have to be willing to take some risk on things we haven't done before," County Executive Ed Long said during a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon between the Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board. Combined with the loss of $61 million in one-…
andy davis
8:55 am on Monday, April 29, 2013
Andy.The head start program has not been successful.The record clearly shows that whether you start early or begin with conventional kindergarten,the results are the same by 3rd grade.It is only in recent years we have all day kindergarten.The bottom line is we are broke at all levels of government.While we can not give employees a raise we want to expand a program.Also as we take from the budget… more ›