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The Alexandria Council of PTAs mobilized on Thursday against City Manager James Parajon's proposed 1.5% increase for Alexandria City Public Schools, calling the funding level inadequate and urging families across the school division to submit public comments before the budget process advances.
PTAC, which says on its website that it represents all 17 school PTA units in Alexandria, posted the call to action on social media Thursday, tagging Patrick Henry K-8 PTA and 14 other school units. The post arrived less than 48 hours after Parajon unveiled his $977.3 million proposed FY 2027 budget.
The group's central argument is one of equity: non-collectively bargained city employees are receiving a step increase plus a 1.5% cost-of-living adjustment under the proposed budget, while ACPS's total operating increase is 1.5%. PTAC argues that figure cannot cover a comparable raise for school staff, let alone fund the division's first collectively bargained agreement with teachers, which is currently being negotiated.
"1.5% DOES NOT cover a step increase and 1.5% increase — which is what city employees are getting," PTAC wrote. "It WILL NOT cover the collective bargaining agreement being negotiated."
The school board unanimously adopted a $408.2 million budget request last week, calling for a 3.5% city appropriation increase — $9.8 million and $5.6 million more than Parajon proposed. Chair Michelle Rief warned the gap would force position cuts, larger class sizes, and difficulty retaining teachers in neighboring jurisdictions. The board may revisit its appropriation request in May once the city finalizes its budget.
Not everyone agrees more funding is warranted. ACPS enrollment fell 407 students last fall — a 2.5% decline and the largest single-year drop since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to data presented to the school board in December. Critics argue that with enrollment falling and the budget rising, the division is effectively receiving more per student than before. Defenders of the request note that a significant share of ACPS costs are fixed regardless of enrollment, and that the district serves a high-need population — 37.6% English Learners, 12.4% students with disabilities — whose costs don't diminish with headcount.
Parajon acknowledged the structural tension in his budget presentation Tuesday, noting that the state reimburses only $11.3 million of the $41.4 million cost of state-mandated positions — leaving a $30 million net subsidy from the city. More state support, he said, "will relieve some of the pressure on our budgets, including perhaps additional supports for our public school system."
PTAC urged families to submit comments at alexandriava.gov/budget and to contact the City Council directly. The city's first budget public hearing is on March 9 at 5:30 p.m. The council's add/delete deadline is April 9, and budget adoption is set for April 29.
Update, 4:06 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27: Amy Hills, President of Douglas MacArthur Elementary School PTA shared with The Alexandria Brief "that the Douglas MacArthur PTA did not vote for or against the statements made by PTAC regarding the budget". She continued, "Our community has many budget concerns, but for clarity’s sake, we did not take action on this matter."
Update, 9:58 a.m., Friday, Feb. 27: The Alexandria City High School PTSA, representing the largest high school in Virginia and its 4,600 students, also said Thursday it did not vote on or discuss the PTAC effort at its most recent meeting. "Since requested staffing needs to support the high school are not present in the ACPS budget, even though it states needs-based increases, we will not advocate with PTAC for more funding from City Council," wrote Advocacy Chair Marguerite Rippy and Outreach VP Sue Heiler Brown in a statement to The Alexandria Brief.
The ACHS PTSA has raised a separate concern: that ACPS's own budget priorities favor central office growth over school-based instruction. According to the group's newsletter, the Information Services budget grew by more than $423,000 over three years, a single-person Accountability and Research unit grew by more than $532,000, and the School Board's own budget grew by more than $615,000 over the same period — while the high school received no adds in the FY 2027 budget and saw a reduction of 3.3 FTEs despite increases in English Language Learner and Special Education students. "In times of budget austerity, resources need to be focused toward school-based instructional needs," the group wrote.
The ACHS PTSA said individual parents are encouraged to contact both the School Board and City Council directly.
Update, 8:55 a.m., Friday, Feb. 27: At least one school listed in PTAC's social media campaign has since distanced itself from the effort. The Jefferson-Houston PTA's advocacy co-chairs said in an email Friday that the school had not voted to support or align with PTAC's position on increased operating funding for ACPS. "There has been no vote of support or alignment on our part to support or engage with the PTAC position of increased operating funds," wrote Elizabeth Bolton, advocacy co-chair for the Jefferson-Houston PTA.
The Alexandria Brief has asked PTAC to clarify how the participating schools were identified and will update this story when a response is received.
