News

ACPS board weighs staffing and program cuts to address $5.6M budget gap

By James Cullum
Alexandria School Board Chair Michelle Rief speaks at Alexandria City High School's 25th anniversary celebration of the film Remember The Titans, Sept. 19, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City School Board Chair Michelle Rief says the school system will have to look toward its own resources, and not the city, to fill a $5.6 million funding gap.

In a blog post last week, Rief addressed City Council’s decision to not fill the $5.6 million gap the school system needs to fund its proposed $12.7 million collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Council approved the city’s $979.1 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget on April 29, after some councilmembers expressed surprise that the proposed CBA was not part of a multi-year agreement.

“I would like to address and correct some inaccurate statements made by members of City Council during the FY 2027 Budget Adoption on April 29, 2026,” Rief wrote.

While not specifically spelling out what City Council got wrong or singling out officials, Rief said that ACPS got 18.5% of new city funding to support its operating budget, and that the approved ACPS operating transfer of $286.6 million represents 29.2% of Alexandria’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

“This is the lowest share of the General Fund allocated to school operations in more than a decade, and Alexandria’s local funding effort for public education continues to rank among the lowest in Northern Virginia,” Rief wrote. “To achieve a balanced budget, ACPS made over $7.5 million in spending reductions, which included a 5% reduction in non-personnel expenditures for all ACPS departments and schools, a reduction in staff and a shift of 5% of employee healthcare costs to employees.”

Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt will present her revised Combined Funds and Capital Improvement Program budgets to the School Board tomorrow (Thursday).

“With the unfortunate reality of the City Council’s adopted FY 2027 Budget allocating $5.6 million less than the School Board’s full request, we will work within our current resources and explore all options to identify solutions and minimize impacts on students and staff,” Rief wrote.

In March, Rief outlined to Council how ACPS, without city intervention, would make $5.65 million in cuts.

ALXnow has reached out to Rief and City Council for comment.

How ACPS proposes to bridge funding gap in the FY2027 budget (via ACPS)

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.