Superintendent of Schools Steven Walts reassured Prince William County Schools faculty and staff Thursday that the School Division will not face the same budget deficit as Fairfax County Schools.
Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Karen Garza presented a budget plan, which contained significant cuts in programs and staff, as well as increasing class sizes to make up for a $140 million budget deficit.
While he admits their will be challenges in planning next year's budget, the School Division has contingencies to addresses them.
"Challenges will not simply vanish this year. But advance planning and efficiencies have allowed us to continue Providing A World-Class Education without significant program cuts or any reductions in force," Walts said.
In a statement, Walts said the district planned for some of the same budget issues that Fairfax faces.
"I am pleased to report that PWCS is not anticipating any unusual funding shortfall for which we have not already prepared," he said. "Like Fairfax, we expect another large influx of students, adding millions to our costs; but in our case, that expense is already factored in to the PWCS five-year budget plan."
Walts credits long-range planning as the reason that the School Division can meet the challenges of the next budget cycle.
"Increased Division VRS payments that worry Fairfax officials are also part of our advance planning for next year, as are higher health insurance premiums. Finally, unlike Fairfax, we have not relied on one-time funding to sustain long term programs, so we wont be facing losses there," he said. "Even in the face of unexpected issues that always seem to arise. We intend to build on that successful foundation again this year, while still seeking the additional funding that could help us to do even better."
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