The Falls Church School Board unanimously adopted its budget for the coming Fiscal Year 2019 (the 2018-2019 school year) Tuesday night.  The $51 million dollar plan represents a less than one percent increase overall compared to the current budget year. But because of decreases in state funding, it requires a 2.8 percent increase in the local transfer — the lowest requested increase in the last five years.

“This budget reflects the priorities in our Triennial Plan and reflects our current collective needs,” Superintendent Peter Noonan said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Our stated mission is to be the premier International Baccalaureate (IB) school division in the country, and this budget provides support for all FCCPS students while maintaining small class sizes.”

The FY2019 Budget includes funding for:additional support for special education, additional support for the IB’s Primary Years Program, repurposing of staff to support English as a Second Language students, and a three percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all the staff.

“This budget shows significant fiscal restraint as it includes only one third of the requests from FCCPS principals and staff,” Noonan said.  “I want to commend our budget team for the hard scrub of our current budget to find nearly $700,000 in efficiencies that will fund the remaining Triennial Plan priorities.”

Adopted budget motions and documents will be posted on the school division’s budget website.