The Prince William County Board of Supervisors indicated during its Tuesday meeting it could reduce the county public school system’s budget by $31 million.
During the nearly 8-hour long meeting, the board of supervisors indicated it would vote to reduce real estate tax bills from 90.6 cents to 85 cents per $100 in assessed value. Combined with a proposed cut to the county’s 3% meals tax, it could reduce the school system’s expected budget by $31.2 million.
Wednesday, the school system said it was aware of the publicly scheduled budget markup meeting, but did not know “a reduction of this scale would be considered.” It said the potential reduction could impact employee pay increases, after-school programs and a reduction in certain services.
The school board presented a $2.1 billion last month 鈥� a nearly 10% increase compared to fiscal year 2026. Based on the county revenue sharing agreement which splits all county revenue between the school system and county departments, it included a 6.3% raise for teachers and staff.
Supervisor Yesli Vega, a Republican representing the Coles District, continuously noted it wasn’t a significant cut.
“I don’t understand how we can sit up here and say that it’s a cut; it’s not a cut,” she said.
The county will raise the data center tax rate from $4.15 to $4.50 per $100 in assessed value, county鈥檚 budget director Dave Sinclair said.
“The schools are still short because they’re not getting that new $4.50,” Supervisor Chair Deshundra Jefferson said. “They’re not getting that 35 cents. They are losing money because we cut the meals tax, and they’re losing money because we cut the real estate tax rate. So what we’re going to be giving them will be less than what they expected and requested. So that’s why it is a cut.”
“I don’t want to balance our budget off the back of our students. That’s how I feel,” Jefferson said. “I hate balancing the budget on the backs of our employees.”
As a result of the changes tentatively made by the board Tuesday, the school division鈥檚 revenue from the county will drop to $1.087 billion.
The straw votes are not set in stone, Jefferson noted. The board of supervisors will vote on the proposed reduction and finalize the budget during its April 21 meeting.
‘Steal money from the schools in the middle of the night’
Prince William School Board Chair Babur Lateef said in a lengthy statement to 小萝莉影视 that the board of supervisors’ decision to cut funding from the school system is allegedly the first time in three decades that the board has failed to honor its agreement to share county revenues with the school division.
Lateef said the school division receives approximately 57% of county general revenue, which is lower than neighboring regional counties including Fairfax and Arlington counties.
“The Prince William County school board relies heavily on this shared agreement because we make our budget based on this,” Lateef wrote. “We have never had to make cuts to an approved school budget before.”
He noted that Supervisor Chair Jefferson and Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey were the “only two board of county supervisors (that) stood up for schools.”
“The board of county supervisors 鈥� have failed to reign in spending, and so they have decided that they would steal money from the schools in the middle of the night,” Lateef said.
Lateef offered that he would be willing to renegotiate the revenue sharing split with the board later this summer, but noted that the conversation should be “decided well in advance of the budget season.”
Lateef also spoke with regarding the impact the budget cuts could have on the next school year. He said new extracurricular activities including boys’ volleyball, women’s wrestling and robotics would likely be cut first and new initiatives like classroom remodeling and a mobile health van could also be cut.
“The question I, along with the public, is asking: what is the county doing with all of their data center revenues that they feel they still need to take money from the children of the county? One must ask if the BOCS and the county executive understand budgeting,” Lateef told 小萝莉影视.
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