Manassas Park schools present $63 million FY27 budget amid a 237-student enrollment decline

Manassas Park City Schools presented its board-approved FY27 budget to the city governing body on April 7, outlining a roughly $63 million spending plan and a strategy to respond to declining enrollment and reduced state revenue.

Superintendent Dr. Saunders and school finance staff told the governing body the division's enrollment projections show a decline of about 237 students between FY25 and FY27, a change that has already lowered revenue by about $1.8 million in the current year. Dr. Saunders said FY27 state revenue projections are roughly $1.2 million lower than FY26 projections, creating about $3 million of combined pressure the division must manage.

"This budget is a little under $63 million," Dr. Saunders said, describing priorities to maintain competitive compensation, protect literacy and math improvement efforts, sustain student support resources and preserve core programming. The division proposed a starting teacher salary "a little over 60,000," a 5.5% average increase for instructional classified staff (2% step plus 3.5% COLA), and modest increases for managerial staff.

To respond to enrollment-driven revenue declines, the division has reduced positions through attrition and vacant positions; staff said they avoided layoffs in the current year by absorbing roughly $1.8 million through those measures. The FY27 proposed staffing count is projected at roughly 501 positions, with some class-size averages increasing modestly (K-3 remains 22-to-1; grade 5 moves to 25-to-1; secondary averages increase to about 26-to-1). The division also highlighted a new public-facing KPI dashboard and partnerships such as a bridging-futures program with the local police department and an EMT pathway with the fire department.

School officials said the division will use a modest draw on the school reserve line (about $907,333 was identified in presentation materials) to balance FY27, and that the governing body's continued policy and funding decisions for transfers to schools will be critical to future budgets. The school system also noted an expected decline in kindergarten enrollment this year as a principal contributor to the overall drop.

Next steps: School staff and the governing body will continue budget work sessions and follow-up questions ahead of the June public hearing and adoption schedule.