Fairfax City schools propose $80.19 million FY2027 budget; tuition from FCPS cited as main driver

Dustin Wright, the City of Fairfax’s new superintendent, presented a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget totaling $80,189,606 at the school board’s Jan. 5 meeting, saying the largest anticipated increase comes from the tuition bill the division pays to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).

Wright said the budget is organized around three priorities: "strengthening the connections" between schools and community, "supporting and empowering our outstanding educators and staff members," and keeping "students at the center of all that we do." He described the School Services Agreement (SSA) with FCPS — in place since 1962 and renegotiated in 1978 — as a primary structural driver of the tuition calculation that affects the City’s budget.

"That ADM . . . impacts our state funding," Wright said, explaining the difference between September membership and Average Daily Membership, or ADM, which FCPS uses to model funding and the tuition bill. He presented a September membership figure of 2,942 city students and explained that ADM is calculated across the school year and will be refined as FCPS completes its budget process.

Board members repeatedly asked for clarity on the ADM projections and how they feed into the City’s tuition estimate. "I was just wondering if you could speak at all to the fact that our estimate is the slope is decreasing a little bit," said Ms. Borrowman, noting a perceived change in the tuition-history trend on the presentation slides. Wright replied that FCPS releases its enrollment projections as part of its budget process (he identified Jan. 22 as a key date) and that the City’s ADM estimates will be updated as those numbers are finalized.

Wright also described the year‑end "true up" process at FCPS — adjustments made after a fiscal year closes when additional operating costs or one‑time funds are identified — and said those adjustments are another reason the City’s FY2026 tuition remains listed as an estimate.

When asked what is driving FCPS operating-cost increases, Wright said personnel costs are the largest factor. "The salary cost, the benefit cost, are some of the key drivers for that," he said, noting regional labor market pressures and benefit cost increases as common contributors.

On capital planning, board members asked about maintenance responsibility for turf-field replacement. Mr. Phillips clarified that while Parks & Recreation managed the turf project historically, "this coming year, they're gonna move it to schools," and the proposed CIP includes replacement and $20,000 in maintenance funds.

Wright presented the proposed FY2027 line items: $1,298,429 in operating costs (presented as the operating subtotal), an estimated tuition figure he said is "just over $74,000,000," declining debt service and a continuing maintenance/improvement line for turf and athletic fields. Taken together, Wright said, those elements produce the proposed total of $80,189,606.

Next steps: Wright said the school board will have an opportunity to vote on the budget at the board’s first meeting in February, and the City’s budget process — including the City Council vote and public hearings — will continue through March and April with the City Council expected to vote on May 5. He encouraged the public and board to monitor FCPS’s Jan. 22 presentation for updated enrollment projections that may affect the City’s tuition estimate.

What it means: The presentation framed the tuition bill — and the ADM number that feeds it — as the single largest source of uncertainty for the FY2027 proposal. Board members asked for continued updates as FCPS finalizes its numbers and when Wright receives additional data through the spring budget process.

Sources and attributions: Direct quotes and figures are drawn from Wright’s presentation and follow-up board discussion at the Jan. 5 City of Fairfax School Board meeting. The tuition estimate and ADM projections remain estimates until FCPS completes its budget and any year‑end true up.