Question: How many vacant positions were eliminated in the ACPS School Board-approved budget? Additionally, what are the purposes of the 17.5 reserve FTE positions? (Councilman Elnoubi)
Response:
ACPS eliminated 6 Custodian positions and 4 Head Custodian positions between FY 2025 and FY 2026 as part of the long-range transition from salaried employees to a contracted service model.
The purpose of maintaining Reserve Positions allows the ACPS administration to respond to critical, unanticipated staffing needs that arise throughout the year. These critical positions have included: classroom teachers, instructional aides, and student support positions when actual enrollments exceed projections; English Language teachers to address sudden influxes of refugee families (e.g. Middle East; Afghanistan); and, Special Education staff to serve high-need students who move into the district or are identified throughout the year. It is important to note that no budgeted funds are associated with these Reserve Positions. Rather, if these FTEs need to be deployed, the funding to support them comes from the contingency reserve, reprioritized spending areas, or savings identified from staff turnover/vacancies.