Where does the $3.8 billion go

[Anonymous]

FCPS budget is bigger than that of a couple dozen countries. Where does all the money go? Why aren’t FCPS taxpayers demanding an independent audit?

[Anonymous]

Oof. Open the budget documents on the website. Pretty clear where the majority goes… teacher and IA salaries.

[Anonymous]

This is pretty easy to find with a Google search. Starting on page 158 you can see what is spent on everything over the last few years. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/FY-2025-Proposed-Budget.pdf

Also page 58:
89.2% is salaries and benefits. Education is a labor-intensive field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is pretty easy to find with a Google search. Starting on page 158 you can see what is spent on everything over the last few years. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/FY-2025-Proposed-Budget.pdf

Also page 58:
89.2% is salaries and benefits. Education is a labor-intensive field.

Though one might question if all the Gatehouse staff heading programs and all the non-instructional teaching staff in schools are truly, strictly necessary. I'd rather cut some random executive principals and pay each teacher in the classroom a few pennies more.

[Anonymous]

So OP, what are going to do with this information now that you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is pretty easy to find with a Google search. Starting on page 158 you can see what is spent on everything over the last few years. https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/FY-2025-Proposed-Budget.pdf

Also page 58:
89.2% is salaries and benefits. Education is a labor-intensive field.

Though one might question if all the Gatehouse staff heading programs and all the non-instructional teaching staff in schools are truly, strictly necessary. I'd rather cut some random executive principals and pay each teacher in the classroom a few pennies more.

Then you'll be thankful when you note on pg 9 that FCPS has one of the lowest percentage of administrative staff of all surrounding counties. By far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oof. Open the budget documents on the website. Pretty clear where the majority goes… teacher and IA salaries.

+100, they mention this at every budget meeting they’ve ever had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So OP, what are going to do with this information now that you know?

Speak to Gov.Youngkin.

[Anonymous]

For every 2 teachers (actual teachers in the classroom, working with children) there is 1 administrative person who does not work in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For every 2 teachers (actual teachers in the classroom, working with children) there is 1 administrative person who does not work in the classroom.

Evidence?
A lot of the people you might be calling "administrators" are people who are doing pull-outs with small groups and individual kids who need them and doing targeted whole group instruction in a variety of classes to give teachers their planning periods and be there for on-site subbing. They spend just as much of their day teaching as a child's assigned teacher.

[Anonymous]

Happy to see OP get dunked on for such a stupid question that is easily verified by any sort of search.

[Anonymous]

The property tax increases this year are increases in assessment values AND the property tax rate.

They said the purpose of the double increase is to increase funding for schools.

I complained to my local supervisor when I received this year's assessment increase (ranging from 5%-nearly 20% each year since 2020, with zero improvements to the property)

When I spoke with them I asked why is FCPS not being audited BEFORE implementing another yearly large tax increase, given the massive size of their current budget, which as you point out is larger than many countries.

My supervisor said that prior to supervisor McKay taking chairman of the board of supervisors, FCPS was audited yearly when the county budget was audited.

When McKay became chairman, he pushed through the elimination of the yearly audit for FCPS

Following the removal of the yearly audit, FCPS budget ballooned, with them increasingly claiming they don't have money to pay teachers well, which is a complete lie.

The county board of supervisors needs to reinstate the yearly audit of FCPS before any property tax increases are put into effect.

FCPS is NOT a respinsible steward of our tax dollars.

They have a yearly budget rapidly approaching 4 BILLION dollars. If they are short on money to pay teachers well, it is the resuly of fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The property tax increases this year are increases in assessment values AND the property tax rate.

They said the purpose of the double increase is to increase funding for schools.

I complained to my local supervisor when I received this year's assessment increase (ranging from 5%-nearly 20% each year since 2020, with zero improvements to the property)

When I spoke with them I asked why is FCPS not being audited BEFORE implementing another yearly large tax increase, given the massive size of their current budget, which as you point out is larger than many countries.

My supervisor said that prior to supervisor McKay taking chairman of the board of supervisors, FCPS was audited yearly when the county budget was audited.

When McKay became chairman, he pushed through the elimination of the yearly audit for FCPS

Following the removal of the yearly audit, FCPS budget ballooned, with them increasingly claiming they don't have money to pay teachers well, which is a complete lie.

The county board of supervisors needs to reinstate the yearly audit of FCPS before any property tax increases are put into effect.

FCPS is NOT a respinsible steward of our tax dollars.

They have a yearly budget rapidly approaching 4 BILLION dollars. If they are short on money to pay teachers well, it is the resuly of fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement.

According to the FCPS website, the school provides an annual comprehensive financial report which you can find here. They, like all recipients of federal funds are subject to auditing--and they provide the annual audit reports on the same page: https://www.fcps.edu/budget/financial-reports

[Anonymous]

OP sounds like a disgruntled FFX county employee.

[Anonymous]

When I was in grad school (in education) in 2003, we looked at the budget of our respective school systems (it was a class of educators from many counties--Arlington, FCPS, DC, Montgomery, PG, Loudoun). At that time FCPS's was appx $2.2B. I am stunned that less than 20 years later, it is almost $4B. That is a staggering amount of money. PP is correct re: the amount which goes to the people that make the system run. In 2003, it was 85%. I am pleasantly surprised that that total has risen to almost 90%.

I would like to see a citation for the claim "for every 2 people in the classroom, there is 1 that isn't".