The Falls Church City School Board approved its Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget at its regular meeting this Tuesday, pulling back slightly from an earlier recommendation by the Superintendent of Schools Dr. Peter Noonan to seek more than the F.C. City Council allotted in its guidance earlier in the year.

All eyes are now focusing on F.C. City Manager’s recommendations that he will present that Monday night, March 24, for the overall City operations budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. While surrounding jurisdictions are already experiencing significant pain due to declines in commercial real estate values, it is anticipated that Shields’ budget may include a 2 cent real estate tax rate cut, even with the full School Board budget request.

That will be because of the City’s aggressive economic development commitment that has yielded major revenue gains derived from its new commercial and real estate developments.

However, the cautionary aspect of this centers on how extensive the Trump administration’s slash and burn federal program cuts and personnel firings will be felt here, something that will be difficult to calculate this soon. Extensive job losses and resulting residential vacancies, for example, may take a major toll in ways that will become clearer in the coming months.

For now, the schools’ and Shields’ budget proposals, as will be outlined this Monday, with Superintendent Noonan and School Board chair Tate Gould presenting the School Board adopted budget in conjunction with Shields’ presentation, are based on the new real estate assessments announced last month and school enrollment projections for the coming year. 

The price tag for the approved budget is $69,547,486 and requires a city appropriation of $55,525,284, which now aligns with the guidance provided by the City Council.

With the School Board vote this Tuesday, for the seventh consecutive year, the school system has met the guidance provided by the City Council while, as School Board members stressed Tuesday, “continuing to address the needs of a growing student population and maintaining high-quality educational programming.”

“This budget reflects our commitment to fiscal responsibility while ensuring we meet the needs of our growing population of students and staff,” said School Board Chair Tate Gould.

The Board’s approved budget includes several key elements for the coming fiscal year:

1. Funding to make permanent several positions currently funded through temporary sources, including a math specialist, school counselor, and ESOL teacher,

2. Addition of 4.5 general education classroom teachers to accommodate enrollment growth,

3. The addition of one special education teacher and three paraprofessionals

4. Funding for a full-time assistant director of athletics and student activities

5. Continued funding of psychology services previously supported through pandemic funds.

The School Board also approved the FY2026 Food Service budget in the amount of $1,621,448 and the Community Services Fund budget of $2,663,200, which requires a city appropriation of $107,500.

As part of the approval process, the School Board chose to place funding for a proposed International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) coordinator position into a staffing reserve. This decision will allow the administration flexibility to address potential enrollment increases or other staffing needs that may arise before the final budget adoption in May, the board decided.

Superintendent Noonan and School Board Chair Tate Gould will present the school budget to the City Council this Monday in conjunction with a presentation by Shields of the overall City operations budget recommendations.

While the Falls Church school budget fully funds all the programs considered vital to maintain the high level of quality for which the system is nationally known, it is a far cry from the situation in Fairfax County where revenue shortfalls are causing big program cuts.

For example, after-school and summer programs that serve thousands of middle school students are at risk of ending under Fairfax County’s proposed budget.

To close a projected $292.7 million funding gap, County Executive Bryan Hill pitched a fiscal year 2026 budget last month that cuts nearly $60 million in spending and 208 staff positions across multiple agencies, affecting everything from public safety to housing assistance programs and park maintenance.

The proposed reductions include $4.13 million from the county’s Middle School After-School (MSAS) and Values in Prevention (VIP) middle school summer programs, which both help keep young teens engaged outside the classroom.