Dear PWCS Families, Employees, and Community,

On Wednesday, I presented the proposed Superintendent’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Budget, a strategic investment in our students, staff, and schools. Guided by the PWCS Vision 2025 Launching Thriving Futures Strategic Plan, this budget reflects our unwavering commitment to fulfilling our vision by prioritizing student success, workforce investment, and operational efficiency.

This budget makes critical investments that directly support the dedicated teachers and staff who work with your children every day, reinforcing our commitment to excellence in education. A central highlight of the FY 2026 budget is the funding for the first year of a historic two-year wage agreement totaling over $160 million, over two years, to ensure competitive pay for our employees. This includes back-to-back average pay raises of 7% in the first year and 6.4% in the second year.

Beyond salaries, we are making a $46.7 million investment in programs designed to support students and families. This includes funding 50 additional special education teacher assistants, reducing class sizes for English learners, and hiring 15 new behavior specialists to deliver our commitment to Learning and Achievement for All. To help students stay on track for graduation, we are adding eight graduation coaches and five new school psychologists to ensure our students have access to the support they need to not only cross the stage in June but thrive in whichever path they choose next.

We are also prioritizing Positive Climate and Culture in our schools. Every middle and high school will now have a dean of students, which is a school-based position that will support administration in maintaining fidelity and consistency across the school system in implementation and enforcement of the Code of Behavior, as well as investigation and reporting discipline infractions to ensure fairness across all schools. This investment will be an added support to the principal and assistant principal to ensure instructional leaders can focus on educational priorities within schools.

Recognizing the importance of Family and Community Engagement, we are increasing support for parents. In addition to the 100 full-time parent liaisons in every school, we are introducing a transportation liaison to assist families with bus services. To make it easier for you to get answers, we are launching a new website chatbot to provide real-time district information for your child’s best school experience.

PWCS is also investing $8.2 million in our operations. To keep our schools running smoothly, we are improving transportation services, including 20 new school bus attendants. Additionally, the PWCS Student Teacher Program will provide hands-on training for aspiring educators, helping to develop our future teachers and ensuring your child has access to the best possible instruction.

This budget reflects our commitment to shaping the future of education in Prince William County Public Schools, and I invite you to review the FY 2026 Proposed Budget presentation and learn more about the school budget process. Together, we can fulfill our vision to see every student graduate with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their community.

Sincerely,

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