Albemarle County School Board Special Meeting – Meeting with Legislators September 15, 2008 – 12:00pm Room 235, Albemarle County Office Building AGENDA I. Call to Order and Chairman Welcome 12:00 p.m. II. Discussion of Issues Specific to Albemarle County Public Schools A. Cost of Competing/Composite Index Adjustment B. International Standards Math, Engineering and Science Academy, Albemarle High School C. Caps on Inflation III. Additional Items/Information for Review A. No Child Left Behind B. Standards of Quality Funding C. Budget – State and Local revenue current year concerns D. Designation of student race on school registration forms E. Forbes’ magazine ranks Albemarle County 13th best place to raise a family Special thanks for support of Code revisions during 2008 General Assembly regarding School Board operations during large-scale disaster IV. Additional Information for Consideration, Requests for Information V. Adjournment 1:30 p.m. Legislative Representatives: School Board Members: Delegate Watkins Abbitt Steve Koleszar Dr. Pam Moran Delegate Rob Bell Diantha McKeel, Vice Chair Superintendent Senator Creigh Deeds Barbara Massie Mouly Representative Virgil Goode Pamela Moynihan Dr. Bruce Benson Senator Emmett Hanger Ronnie Price Asst. Superintendent Delegate Steve Landes Jon Stokes Delegate David Toscano Brian Wheeler, Chairman ALBEMARLE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT-A-GLANCE • 27 schools: 16 elementary, 5 middle, 1 arts-infused charter middle, 3 comprehensive high schools, 1 alternative charter high school, The Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center, 1 Math, Engineering & Science Academy at Albemarle High School will open in 2009-10 • Total students grades K-12 estimate (‘08-‘09) : 12,541 • Students identified as gifted: 15% • Students served by Special Education: 14% • Students eligible for free/reduced lunch: 21% • Students identified Limited English Proficient (LEP): 6% • Number of languages spoken by students: 68 • Number student lunches served daily: 6,000 • Number of miles buses travel daily: 11,378 • Students-to-computers ratio: 3.18 : 1 • High School completion rate: 91% • Average Class Size: Kindergarten: 18 Grades 1-3: 19 Grades 4-5: 20 Grades 6-12: 21 • 100% of our schools are fully accredited by Virginia DOE • One of 19 school divisions in state to earn VIP Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence • Average SAT scores surpass state and national averages by more than 10% • 82% of our high school graduates pursue post-secondary education • 81% of our students taking an AP test received passing scores, compared to state average of 60% Legislative Agenda 2008-09 9/4/08 Page 1 Albemarle County School Board Legislative Agenda 2008-09 COST OF COMPETING (Strategic Plan Goal 3, 5) Background Ensuring Albemarle County Public Schools recruits, develops, and retains a highly qualified, diverse cadre of staff is critical to achieving world class learning results and efficient use of funding allocated to personnel. During the 2006-07 school year: 151 professional staff resigned or retired (38 retired, 113 left for other reasons), 8% of whom were minority teachers. Data for the 2007-08 school year will be available in mid-October. However, estimates indicate 77 teachers resigned following the 2007-08 school year, and 28 teachers retired. The aggressive recruiting strategies practiced by the Division produced an additional 19 minority teachers in 2006-07 (for a total of 97), an increase of 9 from the 2005-06 school year. Virginia colleges and universities report the number of minority students enrolled in teacher education programs continues to decrease. This is primarily due to increased opportunity and options available in careers with more competitive salaries than those in education. Therefore, the pool of minority teachers is limited and in high demand within Virginia and nationwide. An aging workforce also impacts the Division. The number of professional and teaching staff within retirement age continues to increase. The cumulative number of teachers (full and part time) eligible for retirement in June 2008 was 280, in June 2009 it will be 318, and in June 2010 it will be 351. These potential retirees represent approximately 20% of the teaching workforce within Albemarle County. Impact Statement Despite initiatives by the School Division and Local Government to prioritize market competitiveness, Albemarle County is challenged to maintain a competitive edge because of the high cost of living and limited affordable housing options. Albemarle County Public Schools compete for teachers and administrators with school divisions in metropolitan areas that have a higher cost of living coupled with higher salaries (Northern Virginia) or with a lower cost of living with higher salaries (Richmond area). The teaching demographic with the greatest attrition falls within 0-5 years of experience, with teachers leaving the profession for higher paying jobs outside of education or gaining experience here then transferring to divisions in our competitive market. Reaching and maintaining market competitive salaries and benefits remains a constant, moving target for the Division due to economic conditions. Currently, no formal process seems to be in place for assessing COCA funding. Belonging to the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area (CSA) is an official prerequisite for consideration of COCA assistance. COCA funding is provided currently to the following Virginia localities within this CSA, as designated by the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB, ww.whitehousegov/omb/inforeg/statpolicy.html#ms): Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Alexandria City, Legislative Agenda 9/4/08 Page 2 Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, Stafford County, Fauquier County, Fredericksburg County, Spotsylvania County, Warren County, Clarke County, Frederick County, Winchester City, and Culpeper County. The Federal Office of Management and Budget defines CSAs as groupings of adjacent Metropolitan and/or Micropolitan Statistical Areas that have social and economic ties as measured by commuting. Employment Interchange Measure (EIM) is used to qualify two adjacent statistical areas, and the EIM is the sum of the percentage of employed residents of the smaller area who work in the larger area and the percentage of employment in the smaller area that is accounted for by workers who reside in the larger area. The OMB has specific formulas to measure the EIM and requirements to designate CSAs. Basing the availability of COCA funding purely upon the proportion of commuters to the Washington- Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA or upon membership in that CSA ignores the reason for the establishment of COCA funding. COCA funding was provided to accommodate higher costs incurred by those divisions to meet the market requirements of the region. The same market issues that led to the establishment of COCA funding for the Northern Virginia localities exist here in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area. During the 2008 General Assembly Session, Delegate Bell (Item 140,#32h and #29h) and Delegate Toscano (Item 140, #33h) introduced budget amendments to address the School Division’s lack of COCA funding by adjusting the composite index funding formula methodology of Albemarle County. Chairman Wheeler addressed the Appropriations Committee regarding the initiatives. Appropriations Staff representative, Susan Hogge (Legislative Fiscal Analyst for Education Issues) met with Dr. Moran to review the issue and provide suggestions. Ultimately, the Appropriations Committee did not support the budget amendments. Recommendation • Support Cost of Living Adjustments to be extended to Albemarle County Public Schools. • Investigate option to request OMB incorporate Albemarle County into the CSA for DC-MD- VA-WV. • Introduce budget amendments to provide COCA funding to Albemarle County. Attached: 1. Letter from Governor Tim Kaine (April 25, 2007) to Delegate Toscano re: cost to compete Legislative Agenda 2008-09 9/4/08 Page 3 COMPOSITE INDEX ADJUSTMENT - REVENUE SHARING Background Albemarle County has a revenue sharing agreement with the City of Charlottesville dated February 17, 1982. This revenue sharing agreement predates the General Assembly’s moratorium on annexation by cities. The revenue sharing agreement is complex; however the general impact is to provide $0.10 of the County’s tax rate to Charlottesville. The current calculation of the Composite Index does not account for this payment to Charlottesville and thereby overestimates the available revenues to fund education via property taxes. In FY 08/09, Albemarle County will pay $13,633,950 to the City of Charlottesville in fulfillment of the revenue sharing agreement, an increase of $421,549 over the FY 07/08 payment. Impact Statement Albemarle County’s ability to pay as calculated by the Composite Index is overstated. The estimated dollar impact of this overstatement may well exceed $1 million in annual lost funding from the Commonwealth. Recommendation Adjust the Composite Index calculation to fully account for approximately $0.10 of the local property tax rate not being available for funding education in Albemarle County. Legislative Agenda 2008-09 9/4/08 Page 4 INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS Background In 2004, the Albemarle County School Board endorsed and approved the following two strategic goals as critical to educating all young people to performance that not only meets but also exceeds