[MurrayMatters] ACPS 2008-2009 Budget and Important Public Hearing Dates

Fri Jan 25 12:23:26 EST 2008

Albemarle County Public Schools
2008-2009 Budget 
And How You Can Voice Your Opinion 

In
December 2007 Supt. Pamela Moran submitted the 08/09 Budget Request to the
ACPS Board. 
Check out the very brief overview below and read more
online at the ACPS website (see address at the end of this document). 

Important Public Hearing Dates 
Jan 29 2008 School Board
Public Hearing on the Funding Request Attend this meeting and speak up!
6:30 pm in the auditorium at Monticello HS. (Register to speak at 4:30.)

Mar 5 2008 County Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on the
School Budget!  Attend this meeting and speak up! Time and location
TBA. 

If you cannot attend the public hearings, let your
thoughts be heard by email, mail or telephone. Contact information for
School Board and Board of 
Supervisors is below. 

The budget season, especially the public hearings held by the School
Board and by the County Board of Supervisors, is your best opportunity to
have an 
influence on school-related decisions. Budget decisions
impact classroom sizes, recruitment and retention of teachers, course
offerings, staffing of 
specialists (math, literacy, etc.) and much,
much more at every level of the county school district. 

The
budget request reflects the reduced revenues of the county in 2007
(funding for the 07-08 budget was reduced by $2.2 million due to decreased

real estate assessments). The budget also reflects the long-term
goals and mission of the ACPS, including 
* Maintaining competitive
teacher and support staff salaries, and covering cost increases in
benefits 
* Improving and expanding resources and support for
teachers and students, including curriculum design, training, technology
and leadership development 
* Continuing and broadening the work in
progress already proving results through student achievement gains. 
In Dr. Moran¹s words: "This Funding Request represents our
best plan for meeting school division needs within the constraints of
limited resources."

Please take a few moments to
familiarize yourself with the budget request. 
Contact your public
representatives to let them know your thoughts on the 08-09 school budget.

Funding Request At-A-Glance 
Revenue and Expenses: 
* $152.1 million in revenue 
> * Includes 2.81 % increase in
revenue from all sources (local, state, federal) 
> * Smallest
increase in local revenue in living memory 
* $152.9 million in
expenses 
> * $148 million budget adopted for 07-08 school year

> * Expenses for 08-09 are projected to increase 3.37%. 
*
$862,637 difference between projected revenue and expenses 

Employee Compensation 
* The Superintendent¹s Funding Request
includes $6.2 million in employee compensation and benefits cost
increases. The figure incorporates 
significant cost savings the
School Division realized through staff turnover, department
re-benchmarking, and the state¹s reduction of the Virginia Retirement
System rates. 

* Albemarle County School Board and Board of
Supervisors received salary and benefits projection data from the Human
Resources Department in October 2007 
that reflects the two
Board¹s jointly adopted market compensation strategy. 

*
Market teacher salary increase of 4%, plus small market adjustment
increases results in increases ranging from 1.67 to 5.76%. 

*
Classified employee salary market adjustment of 0.35% plus a merit pool of
4%. Classified employees receive an annual merit raise based upon their

performance evaluation; not all employees receive a 4% increase. 

* Health insurance costs are projected to increase 8%. 

* Dental insurance costs are projected to increase 6%. 

Budget FAQs 
http://schoolcenter.k12albemarle.org/education/components/docmgr/default.php

?sectiondetailid=62120&catfilter=9090#showDoc 

A list
of Frequently Asked Questions (available at the ACPS website on the 
Budget page) can be very helpful to understanding many of the issues 
involved in developing and approving the budget. Here is a list of the

questions available online (along with the answers): 

1)
Where are the sources of School Division revenue? 
2) How does the
School Division spend its budget? 
3) What does the administration,
attendance and health category represent? 
4) What does the transfers
category represent? 
5) What does the Comprehensive Services Act
(CSA) pay for? 
6) How does the local real estate tax rate affect
School Division funding? 
7) How does the Virginia Lottery benefit
Albemarle County Public Schools? 
8) Has the School Division's
student enrollment changed over the past 10 years? 
9) Why do
teachers and other positions in the school system receive annual raises
that are higher than the standard cost-of-living adjustment? 
10) How
does student enrollment impact the budget? 
11) Why isn't budget
growth proportionate to enrollment growth? 
12) What is an
"unfunded mandate"? 
13) What are some examples of federal
unfunded mandates? 
14) What are some examples of state unfunded
mandates? 
15) Why are the Standards of Quality (SOQ) important? 
16) How do the minimum standards described in the Standards of Quality

(SOQ) and associated state payments affect Albemarle County's
taxpayers? 
17) What is the "composite index" and how does
it impact revenue? 
18) What is the School Board's responsibility in
the budget development process? 
19) What roles does the School
Division's vision, mission and strategic goals play in the budget
development process? 
20) How is the School Division budget created?

21) How does education impact our economic vitality? 

Budget and Contact Information 

Online Budget Information.
The School budget page includes links to the Funding Request, FAQs,
podcasts of School Board meetings, a podcast of the 
Telephone Town
Hall and more. 
Albemarle County Public Schools 
>
www.k12albemarle.org/board/budget
<http://www.k12albemarle.org/board/budget> 
Albemarle County
Board of Supervisors 
>
www.albemarle.org/department.asp?section_id=1827&department=budget 
>
<http://www.albemarle.org/department.asp?section_id=1827&amp;department=budget

> > 

Contact information for ACPS Board and County
Board of Supervisors members 

Members of the ACPS Board:
www.k12albemarle.org/board 
<http://www.k12albemarle.org/board>

To email all ACPS Board Members: schoolboard at k12albemarle.org 
<mailto:schoolboard at k12albemarle.org> 

Members of the
County Board of Supervisors 
www.albemarle.org/department.asp?department=bos&relpage=1944 
To email all the County Board of Supervisors: bos at albemarle.org 

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