The Falls Church City School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve its Fiscal Year 2026-27 advertised budget, a $71,591,629 operational spending plan that asks for less than originally projected in January but as such comes within the overall Falls Church City “guidance” while achieving “maintenance” goals for the schools.
That budget now moves to the City of Falls Church City manager and City Council for consideration as part of upcoming deliberations on the City’s next fiscal year overall budget.
The vote capped months of collaborative budget development between Superintendent Terry Dade, Chief Operating Officer Alicia Prince, the School Board, and City government partners — a process that had to deal with rising costs, updated revenue projections, and difficult tradeoffs.
“We are not an OK district. We’re a district of excellence, and we know that we need to continue to add to our programming and enhancements to keep us the number one district in the Commonwealth,” said Dr. Dade at Tuesday’s School Board meeting. “These cuts were not easy. So while we are remaining calm and we know that things will be OK, I just wanted that reflection as we end tonight.”
The approved operating budget represents a 3.1 percent overall increase over the current fiscal year and requires a local government transfer of $57,680,284. The board also approved a Food Services budget of $1,789,008 and a Community Services budget of $3,058,845.
All the votes were unanimous voice votes.
The path to Tuesday’s vote was not a straight line. Since the budget process formally launched in December, the district has absorbed more than $620,000 in additional cost pressures — including a $500,000 reduction in projected city revenue and a $120,000 increase in health insurance costs when rates came in at 13 percent, well above the 10 percent that had been budgeted. To offset those pressures, the district identified savings through attrition, and modest reductions to operational and contractual line items — all without touching compensation or benefits.
The approved budget funds the district at 4.1 percent above last year’s transfer — below the 5.02 percent “maintenance-of-effort” the district originally identified as the minimum needed to sustain current services. A list of additional priorities — including expanded support for struggling readers and math learners, enhancements to district operations, and investments in early learners — remains unfunded pending further clarity in the city’s broader budget process.
Board Chair Kathleen Tysse acknowledged both the work behind the numbers and the challenges ahead. “I am proud of the work that we have done and the integrity that this budget represents,” she said. “But I want to be really clear — we are very far from our maintenance of effort. That $600,000 feels very far away. The budget is extremely lean, and that feels especially challenging in such uncertain times.”
Tysse also emphasized the district’s reliance on the revenue sharing agreement with the City of Falls Church — a structural partnership that determines how local tax revenue is distributed between the city government and the schools. “We don’t set the tax rate. We don’t approve funding transfers. We rely very deeply on the predictability and transparency of our revenue share so that we can budget responsibly.”
Updated revenue projections shared at the meeting suggest the district could receive up to an additional $182,450 if tax revenue reaches $7 million, as projected. That potential additional revenue was not incorporated into Tuesday’s approved budget but could be applied to maintenance-of-effort or high-priority needs as the city’s budget process concludes.
The advertised budget will be presented jointly to the Falls Church City Council by Board Chair Tysse, and city leadership on March 23 in connection with the overall City budget for the coming year (that begins July 1) as recommended by City Manager Wyatt Shields.
Falls Church City Public Schools serve approximately 2,700 students across five schools and is one of only nine school districts in the United States to offer the full International Baccalaureate continuum, Pre-K through 12th grade.
