by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora

Fairfax County school board members will vote on the $4.1 billion fiscal year 2027 budget today. District leaders still point to a “budget gap” of $28 million, referring to FCPS not receiving the full amount requested by the Board of Supervisors. The School Board approved the budget last evening, which represents a 5.0% rise over 2026. )

The district is planning to reduce the number of school reserve staff by $8.8 million, eliminating 70 positions. This raises serious concerns. is planning to cut school reserve staffing of $8.8M, which will eliminate 70 positions. This raises serious concern. Some grades may need additional teachers as class sizes grow in Fall 2026. However, reducing the reserve staffing would limit flexibility and reduce instructional support.

The fiscal priorities of increasing administrative expenditures while simultaneously cutting resources at the school level and increasing class size raises serious questions. A 36% rise in the salary of the superintendent since 2019, as shown below, did not correlate with better student outcomes. Fairfax County Public Schools average SAT scores have actually declined by 35 points since 2019.

The table shows that per pupil spending has increased by 55% since 2019. However, this growth is not matched with measurable improvements to student academic results. The overall spending trend is increasingly out of sync with the performance outcomes.

The school board is currently considering a multi-billion dollar budget. However, the main question is not whether FCPS receives more funding but whether the resources are deployed in a manner that supports classrooms and improves student achievement. Continued budget growth will become an exercise in scale, rather than effectiveness, if spending decisions are not aligned with measurable academic results.

A comprehensive and independent external audit is urgently needed by the district.

Ms. Lundquist Arora is a Fairfax mother and the leader of the county’s Independent Women’s Network. The column was republished by EDNews Virginia with their permission.

To Contact Fairfax School Board Members:
All Members – FairfaxCountySchoolBoard@fcps.edu,
Tom Dannan – tfdannan@fcps.edu, 
Robyn Lady – ralady1@fcps.edu,
Marcia St. John-Cunning –  mstjohncunni@fcps.edu,
Melanie Meren – HunterMillStaff@fcps.edu,
Ricardy Anderson – randerson@fcps.edu,
Mateo Dunne – mdunne@fcps.edu,
Karl Frisch – kfrisch@fcps.edu,
Sandy Anderson – sanderson@fcps.edu,
Seema Dixit – sdixit@fcps.edu,
Kyle McDaniel – kmcdaniel@fcps.edu,
Ryan McElveen – rlmcelveen@fcps.edu,
Ilryong Moon – imoon@fcps.edu,