On Sept. 23, Superintendent Karen Garza invited two journalism students from each school across the county to attend a press conference during the last block of the day.
Some of the schools attending included McLean, South Lakes, Annandale and Langley.
Garza was seated at the head of a round table, where there were place cards and microphones for each team of reporters to ask Garza any questions they had in relation to the county.
The main bulk of the questions were about the impending budget crisis.
Garza clarified where the funding for various parts of the school budgets come from: taxpayer money accounts for the operating budget, which goes toward things like transportation and teacher salaries, while the Capital Fund is a fixed bond allotted by the state.
“It’s very much controlled because there is only so much debt the county can absorb. That’s why we’re fixed to $155 million a year,” Garza said.
Additionally, Garza mentioned that Virginia law mandates that the budget presented by Fairfax County must be balanced. She also debunked misconceptions about how the budget cuts worked.
“It’s not cutting the money and then moving it to somewhere else … We’re cutting costs and expenses to meet the revenue that we think we’ll have. So the cuts aren’t to shift the money. It’s trying to get the budget in line to how much revenue is available in the system,” Garza said.
The effect of the budget crisis was not lost on the students, however. There was half a billion dollars cut from the school budget since 2008, and Garza predicts 70 million dollars in future budget cuts.
“I hate it. It pains me to see us considering cutting so many programs. Many of them represent quality education that we benefit from and they’re what makes our schools great,” Garza said.
Garza attributed this growing monetary need in part to the demographic changes that are becoming present in Fairfax County.
Since 2008, the student population has increased by over 22,000. Some students, Garza noted, have additional educational needs that must be accounted for in the budget.
“So when students enter our system, every student costs a certain amount. But in some cases, students may cost more due to their additional educational services that we need to provide them,” Garza said.
For example, programs to address the educational needs of students with disabilities and non-native speakers add expense to the annual budget.
Garza also addressed the multiple changes in Fairfax County public school policies. Firstly, in a court decision in June, both gender identity and sexual orientation were added to the Student Right’s and Responsibilities non-discrimnatory policy.
“We owe it to every student to respect their needs and support their needs. It was a strong signal that these students have rights,” Garza said.
Along those same lines, Garza discussed the mental health initiatives implemented in Fairfax County, as the high youth depression rates in Fairfax County are a controversial subject. The most basic program was training to help faculty members know what signs of depression to look for in students and when to call for intervention.
Garza also mentioned the crisis texts for teens that are bullied or feeling down, depression screenings for certain grade levels, and youth surveys that provide the county with an idea of where there needs to be critical improvements in areas of student mental health.
“It’s promising. We’re seeing overall improvement in student’s mental heath,” Garza said.
She revealed that the new grading system, Student Information Systems, that went live county-wide just days before the conference had actually been developed and implemented five years ago.
“Seeing how comfortable parents and teachers are with it, posting grades, and working out all the kinks will take time,” Garza said. “I hope it’s been received well. I sense that it has.”
Although there has been mixed reactions to the late start times for high schools, Garza reported that fewer buses have been regularly late, despite the higher ridership rates. This is especially important, Garza noted, because there are less teen drivers and therefore less congestion on the roads.
“It about perfecting the bus routes. We’ve isolated incidents where buses were late; it’s addressed by a case-by-case basis,” Garza said.
The conference concluded on a positive note; Garza urged the reports to take action.
“We need your voice to be heard. If you have any compelling thoughts or ideas, we’d really love to hear from you. We really value the input of our students,” Garza said.