The new LCPS Superintendent, Eric Williams, has asked for a budget that will bring the school’s budget to just under a BILLION dollars, $981 million for fiscal year 2016, an increase of $68.9 million over this year. This budget includes the expansion of all day kindergarten to 1,600 students, largely low income students, ESL students, and those students with special needs. [read_more]
The budget would eliminate middle school assistant librarians and bring back the nine middle school deans. (I don’t see the need for either. Why do we have libraries in middle schools and high schools? Students rarely get to use them and every community has a library.)
Part of the 7.6 percent budget increase comes from a projected 3.4 percent increase in student population. Next year LCPS expects to have 76,000 students. School based staff (which does not mean only teachers) will increase by 231.
The Superintendent also proposed a cost savings by eliminating 40 positions, mostly bus drivers. This move is guaranteed to upset parents, particularly in western Loudoun where it’s not unusual for students to be on bus rides of an hour or more.
The budget also includes a pay raise for all LCPS employees.
