The Washington Post-Cost of the Central Administration Staff in Fairfax Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools currently spends 15 percent of its $2.2 billion budget on central administration staff, according to calculations published recently in The Washington Post.

How much the central administration cost is the topic of every public hearing on the school's budget. Because this is such a central question for many of the neighbors we wanted to share this Post story in case you missed it.

"In fiscal year 2011 — last year — the school system spent about $324 million on all central-office expenditures except the bus fleet. That figure, which represents about 15 percent of the school system’s $2.2 billion budget, comes from an analysis by the watchdog group FairfaxCAPS. (The figure including the bus fleet: about $392 million.)," the Post reported.

For context, reducing class size by one student would cost about $26 million, according to budget documents, the Post said.

What counts as a “central office” cost?

"The FairfaxCAPS analysis includes non-school based employees who work in administration headquarters, such as the superintendent, assistant superintendents and various coordinators and specialists who look after things like the budget, public relations, professional development, special education, and curriculum and instruction," the Post reported.

The Fairfax county school system, one of the largest in the U.S., is divided into eight clusters. Each cluster(like a district) is led by an assistant superintendent, a director and staff support.

Here's the complete Washington Post story.