A thank you, in your own words.
The Arlington County Board approved the FY27 budget on April 22 — and with it, protected recreational, competitive, and adapted gymnastics at Barcroft. That outcome was the product of eight weeks of hard, honest, often messy collaboration between families, coaches, the County Board, and County staff.
A lot of people went out of their way to get us here. Three in particular deserve our thanks:
The County Board
Chair De Ferranti, Vice Chair Coffey, Ms. Cunningham, Mr. Karantonis, and Mr. Spain set County policy and approve the budget. They are the only elected layer in every County decision that affects our program.
What they did
They approved a 25% competitive fee increase instead of the 44% that had been on the table after Thursday's markup, paired with a multi-year path toward the cost recovery target and a committed May kickoff meeting with AAPA/ATPA leadership and DPR/County leadership "to kick off a new spirit of collaboration."
What you may not have seen from the outside: each of them visited Barcroft during the campaign, asked substantive questions at the markup, and sat through hours of testimony. They chose to pull both the fees lever and the structural lever — not just one.
A few things you might reference
- A specific moment from a Board meeting, markup session, or Barcroft visit
- What Barcroft means to your family — a coach, a teammate, a Sunday morning
- The piece of the outcome that mattered most to you (the 25%, the multi-year path, the May meeting)
- A thank-you to a particular member whose questions or comments stood out
County Manager Mark Schwartz
Most gymnastics families never interact directly with the County Manager — he works a layer above DPR and sets the staff-side posture for the whole County. Department directors like DPR's Jane Rudolph report to him.
What he did
The Chair's original 25% proposal was part of the County Manager's budget framework — which is to say, the number we ended up at was on the table from the very beginning because of him. And the Board thanked him directly at last night's vote for the staff-side leadership that made the final outcome possible.
Staff leadership is the kind of thing that isn't always visible from outside — but it's what lets a director like Jane Rudolph make the move she made after Thursday's markup. None of what happened on Wednesday night happens without the posture he set.
A few things you might reference
- Gratitude for keeping 25% on the table as the baseline all along
- Appreciation for the "new spirit of collaboration" the Board referenced
- How you'd hope County–community partnership works from here
DPR Director Jane Rudolph
Jane leads the department that runs every gymnastics program at Barcroft — rec, competitive, and adapted. Most families interact with coaches, program supervisors, or Enjoy Arlington registration, so her role can be invisible from the outside. It shouldn't be, at least not this week.
What she did
After Thursday's markup, when the Board had raised the competitive fee increase to 44%, Jane personally urged the Board to bring it back down to 25%. The Board acknowledged this directly at Tuesday's vote. She also committed DPR to being "all-in" on making this program successful and open to new ideas, and she'll be one of the key participants in the May kickoff meeting.
A few things you might reference
- The decision to urge the Board back to 25% after Thursday's markup
- The "all-in" commitment DPR has made to the program's future
- What you're looking forward to in the May meeting and the chapter ahead
- A specific program, coach, or Barcroft experience your family values
Eight weeks ago, a lot of us didn't know each other. We do now. If there's a new spirit of collaboration on the horizon — and the Board, Mark, and Jane have all said there is — this is how we start it: plainly, personally, and in our own voices.