Ask the Arlington County Board to Honor Commitment to APS

Please take a moment today to write to the Arlington County Board and insist they honor their commitment to APS in the county budget!

What’s Happening?

The Arlington County Board will be finalizing and adopting its’ FY 2027 budget in the next week. The County is proposing a real estate tax increase, but not a proportional increase in the amount allotted to APS in accordance with a long standing revenue-sharing agreement between the County and APS. As budgets become ever tighter, it is a serious concern that the County would consider diminishing its ongoing commitment to our schools and a troubling precedent to set.  As of yesterday afternoon (April 15th) the County Board has increased the APS allocation (fee free to thank them) but the percentage still does not reach the number APS needs.

As a PTA for Special Education we know all too well that changes in school funding disproportionately impact our students with disabilities. Take a moment to look at projects that this increased revenue could fund next year under the Superintendent’s Proposed 2027 Budget indicating $18.81-million in unmet needs (starting on page 18 https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/arlington/Board.nsf/files/DRP22M001626/$file/C.%20Final%20Presentation_FY%202027%20Proposed%20Budget%20(Rev.%20022626%201236%20pm).pdf ).  

The unmet need amount has decreased recently to around $18-million, thanks to the County Board’s increase to APS, but still remains concerning.  Consider the direct impact most of those items listed would have on students with disabilities and other underserved populations. Please ask the County Board to not change its commitment to supporting a high quality, inclusive PreK-12 education and honor its revenue sharing agreement. 

Upcoming County Board Dates:

TODAY, Thurs. April 16th. 2:30pm – County Board Budget Work Session
Sat, April 18th, 9:30am- Monthly County Board meetingWed, April 22nd – Budget Adoption

Please get messages to the County Board by Saturday April 18th. As noted on their website, “no final decisions will be made on any budget topic until the Board adopts the FY 2027 budget in April 2026.”

Information on the FY2027 Proposed Budget is available at https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Budget-Finance/FY-2027-Budget-Information

County Board Emails

mdeferranti@arlingtonva.us
scunningham@arlingtonva.us
mcoffey@arlingtonva.us
jdspainsr@arlingtonva.us
tkarantonis@arlingtonva.us
Countyboard@arlingtonva.us