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Alexandria City Public Schools and its employees' union announced Wednesday they have reached the city's first-ever collective bargaining agreement, a $12,730,138 package covering wage and step increases for teachers and support staff. The announcement came hours before City Council is set to discuss the very budget request that would fund it.
The City Council meets Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the ACPS School Board Room, 1340 Braddock Place, for the second of eight scheduled FY2027 budget work sessions. The session, which brings school board members into the discussion, is dedicated to the ACPS operating and capital budgets and marks the first time Council formally reviews the school division's funding request as part of City Manager James Parajon's proposed budget process.
Ryan Belmore
The timing underscores the deal's precariousness. The tentative agreement is contingent on the City Council appropriating sufficient funds to ACPS. Parajon has proposed a 1.5% increase in the school division's operating transfer — $286.6 million, or $4.2 million more than the current year — which is $5.6 million less than the school board says it needs to meet the terms of the agreement.
When the school board adopted its $408 million budget unanimously on Feb. 19, Chair Dr. Michelle Rief warned of exactly this scenario. "A 1.5% increase from the city — $4.2 million — does not even cover a step increase for our staff," she said at the time. The deal announced Wednesday includes a step increase for every eligible employee in both bargaining units.
Ryan Belmore
The tentative agreement covers two groups of employees under different terms. Licensed personnel — teachers and other credentialed staff — would receive a 2% cost-of-living adjustment, one step increase for all eligible employees, and a second additional step for those employed with ACPS since the 2010-11 school year. Education support professionals would receive a 3.5% COLA and one step increase.
Support employees would also gain a new $2,000 longevity bonus, awarded at every five-year service anniversary and paid in the employee's final paycheck of the work year in which it was earned. The bonus is not retroactive and does not accumulate.
The increases amount to an average 5.35% raise for licensed staff. For education support professionals, the base average is 5.92%, rising to 6.42% when the longevity bonus is included. Wage scale increases carry into subsequent years.
"This 5.35% average increase for the licensed personnel and 6.42% average increase for the ESP employees are consistent with and reflect the commitment we made in the ACPS strategic plan to our professional employees," Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said.
Rief called the agreement a reflection of the community's values. "This proposal affirms our community's commitment to public education and to the ACPS professionals who ensure our students receive a high-quality education," she said.
EAA President Dawn Lucas called the deal a turning point for how Alexandria compensates educators. "The EAA bargaining team acknowledges the significance of this milestone in reaching our initial tentative wage agreement with ACPS. This process has been collaborative and respectful. The fact that EAA had a seat at the table means that ACPS will remain competitive with neighboring school divisions regarding employee compensation," she said.
Parajon, for his part, has pointed to the district's funding trajectory as context for the city's position. Since FY2023, total city support for ACPS through the operating transfer and debt service has grown by $56.2 million — a 20% increase — while enrollment has grown by only 237 students, or 1.5%. He has also noted that state underfunding of Alexandria's constitutional officers and state-mandated positions costs the city roughly $30 million annually, compressing what is available for other priorities.
The school board's adopted budget had already made significant concessions in anticipation of a funding shortfall — eliminating roughly a dozen positions, cutting non-personnel costs by 5% across departments, and shifting healthcare premium costs onto employees, moving most staff from a 20/80 to a 25/75 cost split. That healthcare savings of approximately $2 million was specifically earmarked for the district's first collectively bargained agreements.
If the Council appropriates less than required, the CBA reopens for the limited purpose of renegotiating wages in line with available funding. The same process applies if the Council exceeds the amount. Any renegotiation must be completed by the first school board meeting in May. Salary terms for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 fiscal years are also subject to future reopener negotiations.
"EAA and ACPS are hopeful that the City Council will vote to provide the funds requested by the ACPS Board and back the teachers and support professionals of ACPS in this historic first-ever collective bargaining agreement," the two parties said in a joint statement.
The Council's add/delete deadline — the last opportunity for members to propose changes to Parajon's budget — is April 9. Final adoption is set for April 29.
The announcement marks the culmination of a process that began in October 2023, when the school board received a petition from the EAA certifying majority support for collective bargaining among licensed staff, triggering a 120-day clock under state law. The school board adopted a collective bargaining resolution in March 2024, and the EAA was certified as exclusive representative for both bargaining units in June 2024 after winning elections held the previous month. Virginia first permitted school boards to engage in binding collective bargaining in May 2021.
Wednesday's budget work session is open to the public.
