Dear PWCS Families, Employees, and Community,

On Wednesday Night, the Prince William County School Board approved the FY2025 Proposed Budget and Capital Improvements Program (CIP). The budget and CIP will be presented to the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) on April 2. The BOCS will consider approval of the budget and CIP on April 23.

The budget allocates an additional $71 million to fund average salary increases for teachers (5.2%), mid-career teachers (8.1 - 9.1%), classified staff (6%), and administrators (5.2%) for FY25. I am proud of our community for increasing PWCS teacher salaries by 28.2% over the past four years.

Additional highlights of the budget include assistance in classrooms by adding 125 new teacher assistants serving students with special needs, 23 kindergarten teacher assistants, 15.5 reading specialists, and adding a stipend for individualized education program case managers.

I would like to express my appreciation to the School Board and our citizens for their thoughtful feedback on the budget. I am also thankful for the unwavering dedication of our budget and finance teams to develop this budget, which provides the resources needed to address the goals of our Strategic Plan, effectively addressing the needs of our students.

This past weekend, PWCS held the Prince William-Manassas Regional Science and Engineering Fair, where our middle division (grades six through eight) and our senior division (grades nine through 12) excelled.

From the middle division, 18 first place winners have qualified to compete in the national Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. From the senior division, 13 first place winners and nine second place winners will advance to compete in the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair.

We are so proud of the five grand prize winners who were selected among the first place winners of the senior division to represent PWCS and Virginia at the International Science and Engineer Fair, where they will compete against high school students from around the world. Congratulations to our winners:

• Animal Sciences: Rania Lateef from Colgan High School and The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park.
• Computer Science: Yashvir Sabharwal from Battlefield High School.
• Engineering: Hannah Jansen from Patriot High School.
• Medicine & Health: Lyla Browne from The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park, Fayza Mehrin from Osbourn Park High School and The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park, Layla Moussavi from Colgan High School and The Governor’s School @ Innovation Park.
• Robotics & Intelligent Design: Burak Ayyorgun from Battlefield High School.

Their honor highlights the importance of our division’s STEM programs. These programs teach transferable skills and lifelong practical application, while developing important characteristics—critical thinking, innovation, resilience—like those defined in our PWCS Profile of a Graduate.

The third quarter closes on April 8. I encourage all families to check-in with your student’s academic progress and well-being. Great resources to help monitor student progress and assignments include ParentVUE and Canvas. If your student needs academic support, reach out to your child’s teacher or school counselor, as we are committed to helping every student succeed.

As a reminder, Spring Break for students and teachers is March 25-29. I wish everyone a relaxing and safe Spring Break.

Sincerely,

LaTanya D. McDade, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Prince William County Public Schools