Introduction

Chancellor’s Letter

Dear DC Public Schools (DCPS) Community,

I am proud to share the most recent Education Recovery Scorecard highlights that DCPS students showed the fastest post-pandemic recovery growth in both reading and math—ranking 1st nationwide. As we prepare to sustain this momentum in the 2025-2026 school year and beyond, our Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget reflects a clear classroom teacher focus. This prioritization comes from our understanding that excellent classroom teachers are the foundation of student success and the heart of our mission to ensure students reach their full potential through rigorous and joyful learning experiences.

Today, schools are receiving their initial budgets for FY26, which covers School Year 2025-2026. These allocations are determined by projected enrollment figures and maintain appropriate teacher-to-student ratios across all schools. But they also come at a critical moment for DCPS as we are challenged to navigate a tight financial landscape faced by school districts across the country.

As we address current fiscal realities, DCPS is directing its school budgets toward the investments that we know make the greatest impact on students—our classroom teachers and the quality instruction they provide. The FY26 budget demonstrates this commitment through several key elements:

• A new School Sustainability Fund guarantees schools can afford the appropriate number of classroom teachers.
• DCPS is working to optimize class sizes districtwide while recognizing each school’s unique needs.
• While principals maintain autonomy over certain budget decisions (flexible funds), parameters ensure adequate staffing remains aligned with enrollment and teacher-to-student ratios.

This year’s budget is forced to reconcile economic inflation and factor increased labor costs from our historic union contracts—we are still proud that our educators remain among the highest paid in the nation. And even as we work to manage these pressures, we stand committed to strategic school investments that will sustain the district’s progress in key areas such as enrollment, graduation rates, and retention of our most highly effective teachers.

• $1.1M in Dual Enrollment Programs at high schools to allow DCPS high school students to take challenging college level courses at no cost while still in high school and earn college credit that can be transferred to many postsecondary institutions.
• $2.5M for Sixth Grade Academies in middle schools to support a smooth transition to middle school for students and families by focusing on excellent attendance, academic success, and students’ sense of belonging.
• $4.5M in School Mental Health on school budgets to provide supportive services ensuring students are physically and psychologically safe and are able to fully participate in academic learning.

In balancing priorities within available resources, our principals and Local School Advisory Teams (LSATs) may face tough choices and trade-offs this budget season. The budget worksheets accompanying these initial allocations serve as a starting point for thoughtful planning discussions, and we thank our communities in advance for your engagement.

DCPS’ commitment to the people and programs that make our schools thrive is as strong as ever, especially in the face of difficult, but necessary adjustments. Please continue exploring the budget website to learn more about this year’s budget, review key updates, and access interactive dashboards.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together over the coming weeks to finalize the district’s FY26 budget.

In partnership,

Lewis D. Ferebee, Ed.D.

Chancellor, DC Public Schools

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FY26 Updates

This section provides a high-level overview of what is new or has changed in the DCPS School Funding Model and the Budget Development Guide from Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) to Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).

Flexibility Key

For FY26, the terminology used to classify allocations by their flexibility is shifting.

• Nonflexible 1 (NF1): Previously called “level 1,” these locked allocations are unable to be changed.
• Nonflexible 2 (NF2): Previously called “level 2,” these rarely flexible allocations must maintain the intended purpose of funds but may be appealed to other uses within the intended purpose.
• Flexible (F): Previously called “level 3,” these allocations are fully flexible.

Safety Net Changes

For FY26, the safety net has been expanded for elementary and middle grade levels. To align with the Washington Teachers’ Union Collective Bargaining Agreement, the safety net will now ensure that schools’ student-based funds can afford general education teachers at a 20:1 student-to-teacher ratio for grades K-2 and at a 25:1 student-to-teacher ratio for grades 3-12.

Middle schools and education campuses will have related arts teachers as part of their safety nets, based on enrollment in grades 6-8. For more information, please see the Stability Funding section on the DCPS Budget website.

Stabilization Changes

For FY26, the District’s former stabilization mechanism is being replaced with the School Sustainability Fund. The School Sustainability Fund amount that a school receives is anchored in the school’s FY25 budgeted items adjusted for enrollment and FY26 costs.

General Education Teacher Requirement

Based on the number of classroom teachers budgeted in SY24-25, adjusted for year-over-year changes in projected enrollment, a specific number of General Education classroom teachers has been pre-budgeted for schools. School leaders must budget at least this number of General Education teachers for their budget to be approved for submission. For more information, please see the FY26 Guiding Principles section.

Title I/II Shifts

In FY26, Title I schools will have two distinct allocations for their Title I – Instructional and Title II – Professional Development dollars, as opposed to one combined line previously called “Title I – Schoolwide.” Schools may continue to budget their Title I – Instructional dollars towards classroom educators and supplemental instructional staff. Title II dollars should be budgeted for professional development, in alignment with the grant.

Additionally, schools may now submit petitions to budget their Title I – Parental & Family Engagement and Title II – Professional Development dollars into specific NPS lines. Petitions will be reviewed by the Grants Team to ensure compliance. If not petitioned, Title I – Parental & Family Engagement funds will automatically load into general supplies, while Title II – Professional Development funds will automatically load into professional development.

Given this updated flexibility, the Title I (Parent & Family Engagement) and Title II (Professional Development) sections have been moved from NF1 to NF2 For a complete list of allowable uses for Title funds, please consult these sections, along with the Title I (Instructional) section.

Additional Compensation Changes

Based on historical spending of administrative premium and overtime, schools have the total amount of FY24 local administrative premium and overtime expenditures pre-budgeted from their NPS allocations as NF2 amounts. Principals may request to adjust these lines through the petitions process, but they must maintain at least 75% of the pre-budgeted administrative premium amount and at least 50% of the pre-budgeted custodial overtime amount.

Further, continuing in FY26, schools will be responsible for budgeting for extra duty pay for staff members who are leading clubs/activities that are not centrally covered. For more information, please see the new Additional Compensation section, which aggregates guidance on administrative premium, overtime, and extra duty pay. This section also includes updated information about compensation for attendance/enrollment and administration of medication support.

School Mental Health Shifts

Beginning in FY26, select schools with a history of reprogramming or persistent vacancies in their School Psychologist or Social Worker positions will be required to contribute to the cost of their itinerant support. These schools will be notified directly by the School Mental Health Team and will not be permitted to petition any of their allocated School Psychologist funds.

Schools without a history of persistent vacancies who petition a School Psychologist or Social Worker must retain at least 0.5 FTEs for each position but can use the rest of their allocated funds to add an alternative School Mental Health or Social Emotional Learning/School Climate position(s); no other position types will be approved. Any remaining savings from this change can be put towards administrative premium.

Additionally, the psychology internship program that was piloted in FY25 will continue in FY26. Schools that budget for a full- or part-time psychologist but cannot fill the vacancy by late spring 2026 may be eligible to host an intern for SY25-26. More information is available in the School Mental Health section.

Other Section Adjustments

New Sections

• Grade Level Academies: This section provides information on 6^th and 9^th Grade Academies. Assistant Principal – 6^th Grade Academy positions were added to participating schools’ budgets after budget development in FY25 but will be allocated during initial budget release in FY26. Administrative premium and non-personnel funds for 6^th and 9^th Grade Academies programming will appear on school budget profiles but will be centrally-managed.
• Grade Level/Department Chairs: Elementary schools will now see a dedicated budget line in QuickBase for compensation for Grade Level Chairs. Additional guidance, including criteria and qualifications, is available in this section.
  • Principals interested in filling this role at their school for SY25-26 will need to budget for it during FY26 budget development. The unit cost will be $1,000 per Grade Level Chair, per the WTU CBA (Section 36.10.2). Instructional Superintendents will review and approve all requests to budget for Grade Level Chairs.
  • Secondary Department Chair and TLI compensation will continue to be funded by Central Services.
• New Heights Programming: This section focuses on New Heights Coordinators, which are no longer centrally funded for any school.
• Substitutes: This section provides guidance on allowable usage for substitutes and a new two-part system for managing substitute usage. It also highlights the School Building Substitute Teacher position, which was made available on school budgets during the FY25 summer reprogramming window and will continue to be an option on budgets in FY26.

Consolidations

• CTE/NAF: All allocated CTE and NAF positions are now NF1, which means these positions cannot be removed through petitions. For more information, please see the combined CTE/NAF section.
• Special Education: Information on special education positions has been combined. There is now one NF1 section that contains information on both self-contained teachers and inclusion/resource services teachers. This change does not affect the actual flexibility of inclusion/resource services teachers, which will remain NF2 on school budgets.
• NPS Allocation: Information on schools’ flexible non-personnel allocations has been combined with guidance on historical spending and reprogramming. Schools are also encouraged to access the School Finance DCPS Way for NPS resources.

Removal of Safe & Positive Schools

The final year for the Safe & Positive Schools allocation was FY25. Schools that previously received funds through the Safe & Positive Schools program grant will no longer receive these funds in FY26.

Other Item Catalog Updates

• City Teaching Alliance Resident: This position was formerly known as Urban Teacher Resident. Residents cannot be replacements for early childhood education or special education aides. For more information, please see the Resident Teachers section.
• Connected Schools Manager: In FY26, this position will be centrally-funded at four schools: Hendley ES, Kimball ES, Malcolm X ES, and Turner ES. All other Connected Schools that would like to continue the Connected Schools Manager position will have to budget for this role using flexible funds. For more information, please see the Connected Schools section.
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Positions: The Aide – Multilingual Learner and Teacher – Multilingual Learner positions have been renamed Aide – ESOL and Teacher – ESOL, respectively. Schools may also use flexible funding to budget for the new positions listed below. For more information, please see the Multilingual Learners section.
  • Coordinator – ESOL
  • Instructional Coach – ESOL
  • TLI – ESOL
• Pathways Coordinator: Schools participating in the Pathways program can specifically budget for a Coordinator – Pathways instead of a generic Coordinator – Program. For more information, please see the Pathways Programming section.
• School Counseling Director: Middle and high schools with qualifying enrollment may budget for a Director – Counseling using flexible funding. For more information, please see the School Counselors section.
• Student Health Services Coordinator: The Student Health Services Coordinator position was made available to schools late in the FY25 budget development process. This role is a full-time employee that drives the implementation of new and existing health required programs, compliance, and internal reporting at one site. For more information, please see the School Health Services & Centers section.
• Technology Coordinator: Previously, schools were able to budget for the following positions: Coordinator – Computer Lab, Coordinator – Computer Lab/Technology, and Coordinator – Technology. For FY26, only the Coordinator – Technology position will be available. Staff members currently budgeted in the other positions will be transitioned to the Coordinator – Technology role to avoid being excessed. There are no budget/pay implications from this change.

Centrally-Funded Goods and Services (including OTL-Funded Resources)

Each year, Central Services funds some goods and services directly for schools. Decisions about what is funded centrally are made based on strategic priorities, feedback from schools, and available funding. A Central Services-wide document and OTL-specific document can be found on DCPS Way.

School Partnership Shifts

Schools may continue to budget for partnerships with Literacy Lab, Reading Partners, and SAGA, however these partnerships will no longer be centrally supported in FY26. Schools must budget and procure for these contracts independently while abiding by procurement regulations.

At-Risk Concentration Funding for Opportunity Academies

Ballou STAY, Garnet-Patterson STAY, and Luke Moore HS will begin receiving at-risk concentration funding in their initial allocations. At-risk concentration funding is allocated based on a school’s projected at-risk percentage. See the Program Grants section on the How Schools Are Funded portion of the DCPS Budget website for more information.

Global Studies Coordinator Removal

Global Studies schools are no longer allocated funding for a Coordinator – Global Studies. Instead, schools will receive administrative premium funding that can be paid to staff members who support Global Studies programming. For more information, please see the Global Studies section.

Square Footage for Custodial Allocation Updated for Modernized Schools

The custodial allocation model contains updated square footage for all schools modernized up through SY24-25. As schools become modernized or as permanent small capital projects impact square footage, those updates will be reflected as part of the allocation model for the following fiscal year. For more information see the Custodial section.

AP Reconfiguration Approval

Schools that are changing their Assistant Principal configurations in FY26 but are retaining the same total number of APs will need approval from the Chief of Schools, Kim Jackson, to do so.

Field Trip Transportation for Students with Disabilities

To ensure all students have access to, and the ability to participate fully in, field trip experiences, please make sure sufficient funds are budgeted in transportation to accommodate students with varying needs on their IEPs.

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Guiding Principles

Context

DC Public Schools (DCPS) continues to be recognized as the fastest growing urban school district in the country. We were the only large, urban school district in the country to make gains in proficiency in all four grade and subject combinations tested on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. We have also seen our enrollment grow by nearly 2,000 students over the past two years. These gains are a huge testament to the work of you and your teams and the fact that families are choosing DCPS.

And we know we still have more work to do. We remain committed to acceleration and supporting the whole child. Our vision for this work is outlined in our strategic plan and our three key priorities: Succeed Academically, Connected to Schools, Prepared for What’s Next.

With this in mind, DCPS Fiscal Year 2026 school budget allocations prioritize a “Teachers First” approach, ensuring that funding for classroom teachers is paramount in a tight financial landscape. School budget worksheets reflect projected student enrollment and factor required teacher-to-student ratios across the district. We are also providing requirements and guidance regarding critical personnel and non-personnel spending to support you with making budget decisions.

Requirements & Guidelines

In conjunction with required (nonflexible 1) budget positions, we ask schools to prioritize the following:

Requirements

Items in this category must be budgeted to the minimum levels below. Budgets cannot be submitted with values below what is required.

Guidelines

The guidelines below are designed to support school teams in making budget decisions. The recommended maximums are based on historical data from DCPS schools; schools that exceed the recommended maximums must have a strong rationale for their plans.

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