Friday PatchChat Live: What Voters Should Know About the Nov. 8 School Bond Referendum

Come next Tuesday, Fairfax County voters will be faced with

Included on the Nov. 8 general election ballot is a school bond referendum to fund Fairfax County Public School's 2012-16 Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

Each year Fairfax County Public Schools develops a five-year CIP to address future facility needs, including renovations of existing facilities and building of new facilities.

Capital improvements of Fairfax County schools are not funded through the school system’s operating budget (2.2 billion for FY 2011), but through the sale of bonds. Voters must approve bond sales because they incur future debt.

The Fairfax County School Board voted in January 2011 to approve the FY 2012-16 (CIP) totaling $804.9 million. According to a school board press release, $199.4 million of that amount was already funded with previously approved school bonds. The 2011 School Bond Referendum is for $252.75 million, leaving an outstanding balance of $352.75 million.

“The remainder of the funding will come from future bond sales,” said Denise James, director of the Department of Facilities and Transportation Services.

Since 1999, Fairfax County voters have passed six school bonds totaling $1,809,875,000 (almost $1.81 billion).

• In 1999 for $ 297,205,000
• In 2001 for $ 377,955,000
• In 2003 for $ 290,610,000
• In 2005 for $ 246,325,000
• In 2007 for $ 365,200,000
• In 2009 for $ 232,580,000

 “The current CIP -- and all CIPs for that matter -- are predicated on the assumption that school bonds will continue to be approved by the voters in the future," James said.

Bond passage places the projects listed in the referendum in the queue with all other unfinished projects.

Join Kevin Sneed, director of design and construction for FCPS at 11 a.m. Friday to talk about bond projects, how they're funded, the order in which they are prioritized and the effect of bond requests and approvals over time.

Have a question in advance, or, unable to make the chat? Email erica.hendry at patch.com to submit a question.

Previous livechats:

(Sept. 30)

(Oct. 7)

(Oct. 14)