Prince William School Board approves $1.89B operating budget that increases teacher pay, adds over 100 positions

The Prince William County School Board unanimously approved Wednesday night the division’s fiscal 2026 budget, bringing salary increases and increased support for special education and English learner students.

While the overall approved budget is $2.4 billion, the operating and debt fund comes in at $1.89 billion.

Compensation

Compensation is the biggest expenditure in the school division’s budget. The division rebuilt scales with higher percentage increases for staff placed on lower steps on the scales and curtailing the top of the scales by introducing longevity steps.

For the division’s teacher group, which includes teachers, counselors, librarians and those holding teacher health licenses, the budget includes an overall average salary increase of 6.8%. The actual increase varies from 3% to 11.5% depending on the lane and step placement of the staff member.

The division increased the entry step for teachers by over 9%, providing entry-level teachers with a bachelor’s degree an over $5,000 pay bump, to $62,562. For entry-level teachers with a master’s degree, that amount is $6,000 higher.

In addition, the new pay scale has been decompressed, meaning there is a unique step that corresponds for each year of credited, verified teaching experience.

Because compensation for teachers at the 30-year milestone is above market rates, said Chief Human Resources Officer Donna Eagle, the division has introduced longevity steps for those teachers.

For classified workforce, or support staff, the budget contains an average increase of 7.4%. Each staff member, except those at the very top, will receive a step movement and, similar to certified, the division increased the entry step 8.5% to better attract and retain talent.

Also similar to certified staff, the division introduced longevity steps for those at the top end of the scale, resulting in raises varying from 3% to 11.4%, with those at the top of the scale receiving lower percentage increases and those at the lower end receiving the largest increases.

The budget also includes several agreed upon points from the collective bargaining agreement the school system reached with the Prince William Education Association. The wage agreement, which is yet to be ratified, includes an average of a 7% salary increase for fiscal 2026 and 6.4% overall for fiscal 2027.

The wage agreement also includes an increased stipend for Individualized Education Plan case management for special education teachers.

Dually-certified teachers who provide English language case management in addition to serving as a teacher of record for a content course will now also receive the $2,000 stipend, while elementary strings teachers receive a $1,000 stipend.

The school system also increased the amount of any supplement, which is used to compensate staff for clubs and sports.

Other investments

Additional expenditures include hiring 50 additional special education teacher assistants to provide individualized support for students with disabilities.

Over the last three years the division has added 300 full-time special education teaching assistant positions; the additional 50 positions will address the classrooms that may not have received the investment last year, Superintendent LaTanya McDade said.

The division budgeted just under $6 million to hire 39 full-time employees to improve English learner student-teacher ratios and meet updated state requirements.

Three graduation coaches were hired post-budget cycle last year to support schools with the highest dropout rates, and the division is hiring an additional five graduation coaches this cycle, bringing the total to eight.

Another new expenditure the school system is introducing is hiring a dean of students at every middle and high school.

The dean of students is a school-based position that will support administration at the local school level in maintaining consistency across the entire division in the implementation and enforcement of the code of behavior. The dean of students will be responsible for investigations and reporting discipline infractions to ensure fairness across all schools, McDade said.

Several School Board members welcomed the addition of the dean of students position and the effect it will have on student discipline.

“I do love that our middle school and high schools are receiving dean of students to help with the discipline … I feel like that’s so needed and will hopefully help to address some of the differences,” said Erica Tredinnick, the Brentsville District School Board member.

The division added some additional investments following a budget markup work session, including the addition of vape sensors in all high schools before the start of next school year. The division also added two math specialists and five instructional coaches to help support elementary math.

Several School Board members lauded the addition of the vape sensors.

The board approved both the budget and the 2026-30 Capital Improvements Program, which includes various construction projects and renovations. 

Several high schools are scheduled to have artificial turf practice field construction completed over the next several years. Potomac, Unity Reed and Battlefield high school are all slated to have their fields completed in 2026.

One of the largest investments in the capital improvement program is $150 million toward deferred maintenance to maintain and update HVAC systems across the division.

The School Board will present its budget to the Board of County Supervisors at an April 1 meeting and the supervisors are expected to approve the budget in late April.