MEETING MINUTES Stafford County School Board - Presentation of FY21 - PDF document

MEETING MINUTES Stafford County School Board - Presentation of FY21 Funding Request to Board of Supervisors - March 3, 2020 7:00 p.m. Board of Supervisors Chambers 1300 Courthouse Road // Stafford, Virginia 22554 School Board Members Present Board of Supervisors Members Present Holly Hazard, Chair (Hartwood District) Meg Bohmke, Chair (Falmouth District) Dr. Sarah Chase (Falmouth District) Tom Coen, Vice-Chair (George Washington District) Patricia Healy (Rock Hill District) Tinesha Allen (Griffis-Widewater District) Susan Randall (George Washington District) Mark Dudenhefer (Garrisonville District) Dr. Elizabeth Warner (Griffis-Widewater District) Cindy Shelton (Aquia District) R. Pamela Yeung (Garrisonville District) Gary Snellings (Hartwood District) Crystal Vanuch (Rock Hill District) School Board Vice-Chairwoman Irene Hollerback (Aquia District) was absent. During the regular meeting of the board of supervisors (“Supervisors”) , and on behalf of the school board, Dr. Sarah Chase presented to the Supervisors the school b oard’ s FY21 funding request. She began by highlighting the successes achieved this school year which directly resulted from the collaboration on the FY20 budget between the school board and the Supervisors:  A 5% across-the-board salary increase for all school division staff;  Service employee market enhancements (Phase I);  Enhancements to the nurse pay scale;  Mid-year bus driver recruitment and retention initiatives;  A number of additional new positions, including: o 27 general education teachers (to address growth in the student population); o 11 school counselors (to meet the social/emotional needs of students) – as mandated by changes to the Virginia Standards of Quality; and o 9 teachers and 11 paraprofessionals for Special Education;  Inaugural cohort of the new firefighting program;  Expansion of the biomedical STAT program;  Receipt of a grant for a 21st Century Community Learning Center;  Receipt of an Advancing Computer Science Education grant; and  Receipt of a grant for a pilot after-school dual language program at Conway and Moncure Elementary Schools. In the area of capital improvement, Dr. Chase expressed the school board’s appreciation to the Supervisors and County staff for helping to ensure that the new Moncure Elementary School and North Approved by the School Board on April 14, 2020. P a g e 1

FY21 Funding Request Presentation to the Board of Supervisors March 3, 2019 Star Early Childhood Education Center were both opened on time at the start of this school year. She reported further that the renovation to Ferry Farm Elementary School is well underway. Also, due to the Supervisors ’ recent approval for the reappropriation of FY19 year-end funds, the school division is now in the process of retrofitting 100 school buses to install much-needed air-conditioning; the school division’s antiquated telephone system will soon be replaced; and air-conditioning will be installed in several school kitchens during the coming summer months. Dr. Chase then explained the factors which are driving the FY21 school division budget. This includes:  Exponential growth in student enrollment As the county administrator reported in his budget presentation to the Supervisors several weeks ago, Stafford County is now the second-fastest growing county in the Commonwealth (behind Loudoun County) and has the second highest per-capita enrollment amongst all Virginia public school systems (behind Prince William County). In fact, our enrollment has almost doubled over the past 25 years. In the current school year (2019- 2020), Stafford’s K -12 enrollment grew by 671 students over the previous year. Projections indicate that we should expect an increase next year of 699 students over this year.  A nationwide teacher shortage There is a chronic shortage of teachers across the nation. It is an extremely competitive recruiting market. Across the U.S., the number of college students entering and graduating from teaching degree programs has steadily declined. For example, the Virginia Department of Education has reported that only 60 individuals graduated with teaching credentials in secondary mathematics from Virginia colleges and universities this year. Our school division will need 192 math teachers next school year. We need to retain every math teacher we currently employ and then add more. In addition to recruitment challenges, we also face retention challenges. Last year, 224 licensed staff resigned or retired. The cost to recruit and train a new teacher is approximately $10,000.  Changing student demographics Our student body is becoming more diverse. The majority of our student population is now made up of minorities. The percentage of students who identify as English Learners has increased from 9% to 11% since last year alone. There are 89 different languages represented in our student community. Our percentage of students with disabilities currently aligns roughly with both the state and national averages (around 13%). We expect to see an increase of around 169 new students in next year’s enrollment of students with disabilities. Special education teaching positions are the second-hardest to fill (after math positions). In addition, we have seen an almost three-fold increase over the past four years in the number of children who have 504 Plans. We have also seen a slight increase this school year in the number of economically- disadvantaged students.  Shifts in State expectations The state has introduced new computer science standards for grades K-12. Additionally, the state has made changes to the Code of Conduct and Behavior Modification Plans. And, there have been changes to the Standards of Quality with respect to student-to-teacher ratios for English Language teachers and school counselors. Dr. Chase then reviewed the state of funding for the school division over the past 10 years. The majority of the funding comes from the State and the County. She noted, however, that the State’ s funding has increased at a higher rate than the County’s funding has done over the past decade. Dr. Chase pointed out that it is the local contribution that determines how competitive our school division will be against other school divisions in the Commonwealth. Approved by the School Board on April 14, 2020. P a g e 2