February 2021 Minutes

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Superintendent's Advisory Council on Instruction (SACI)
Meeting held via Zoom
Minutes

February 11, 2021
DRAFT

7:03 p.m. Welcome- Karen Martin, Chair SACI

December and January minutes approved as amended

Budget Presentation: John Wallingford, Associate Superintendent for Finance and Risk Management

FY2022 Budget Timeline

  • February
    • 3rd Presentation of Proposed Budget/CIP
    • 8th Public Meeting on Budget/CIP
    • 17th Public Meeting
    • 24th Budget Work session
  • March
    • 10th Budget Work session- Mark-up
    • 17th School Board Approves Budget/CIP
  • April
    • 6th School Board Budget Presentation to Prince William Board of County Supervisors (BOCS)
    • 20th Final Date for BOCS Budget Approval.

This budget process started in July 2020.
County provides a little over 50% of our budget. BOCS approves our budget in a lump sum approval. That means we can move money around within our budget without going back to the county.

Superintendent's Proposed Budget Fiscal Year 2022

  • Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget Highlights
    • Overall budget $1.2 billion
    • Increase of $28.9 million
    • Projected Enrollment 90,991
      • We are projecting a decrease of 1,057 students for next year. But we expect it to rebound over the next few years.

Demographics have an impact on cost.

CARES Funding

We have spent $55 million in federal funds. We will receive an additional $39.1 million that is not included in the FY 2022 budget. We expect more federal funding in the future.

Cost Per Pupil Spending

  • We are next to last in cost per pupil in the area at $12,641 per student.
  • We are now spending about same as the inflation adjusted level of 2009.

Superintendent's Budget Priorities- Additional Information can be found on the PWCS.EDU website

  1. Pandemic Student and Employee Support
  2. Teacher and Employee Compensation- Provide a step and 1% COLA to employees, with no health increase
  3. Educational Equity and Academic Achievement
  4. Prekindergarten (PreK)- adding 5 classes
  5. Student Mental Health and Wellness- additional psychologists, school nurses, and Professional School Counselors
  6. Sustainable facilities, school safety, and support infrastructure

Summary of Proposed Operating and Debt Service Fund

  • Budget is growing by a little over $33 million (2.6%). This is a tight increase. Normally we increase by about $40 million from the prior year's budget.
  • The 5-year budget plan is balanced, but that doesn't mean that there are not substantial needs.

Questions:

(Questions are copied and pasted from the Zoom Chat - answers are the bullet points. These answers may be transcribed and may not be grammatically accurate.)

Will the presentation be provided?

  • Yes. The presentations will be posted on the SACI webpage on PWCS.EDU.

Will the enrollment not rebound to its previous track once the pandemic is over?

  • We have grown steadily over the last few years. When you throw in an off year where we lost about 2,500 students, those are the years it is the most difficult to forecast into the future. Prediction models use the growth history. So, this will make a difference and make it more difficult to predict in the future. Finance people tend to be more conservative in our estimates, so we are not caught off guard.

In scope- 1,000 kids is a large elementary school. 2,500 is a high school. It is a big impact in real numbers.

How does our per-pupil spending compare to that of other states with similar size populations?

  • You can look across the nation and see some divisions that are much less than ours. If you go to larger metropolitan areas, you will see higher numbers. You see a large discrepancy just in Northern Virginia. If we were funded at the same rate as Arlington, we would have $651 million more in our budget.

Is their cost per pupil so much higher because of the cost of living in the areas?

  • There is a strong correlation between payroll and budget. We spend about 95% of our budget on staffing. One driver of the difference is the housing cost difference. That drives costs in the budget. They also have higher tax base and they spend more money on education. We get more bang for our buck. We are a lean operation and do a good job on the dollars we spend.

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Presentation - Mr. David Beavers, Supervisor of Planning and Financial Services and Maureen Hannan, Supervisor of Land Acquisition & CIP

We look at facilities, what we need, and enrollment projections. And we seek to provide equity throughout the division.

Proposed Capital Improvements Program Fiscal Years 2022-31

  • Capital Improvements Program - In Progress
    • Two new school opening in the Fall - Gainesville High School and Potomac Shores Middle School. Woodbridge HS and Gar-field HS are getting new Auxiliary gyms.
    • Potomac Shores Middle School was designed with an auditorium
    • Penn ES Renovation- flooring, ceiling, and lighting improvements.
    • Independent Hill Complex
    • Unity Reed HS and Woodbridge HS - New concession building under construction and restrooms at the stadiums.
    • Brentsville High School Greenhouse
    • Beville Middle School - Renovation to be completed in June of 2021 and includes a new music suite.
  • Upcoming projects
    • "Rosemount Lewis Elementary" - Construction to start in March to open in 2022.
    • Preparing to bid additional projects.

CIP Process

  • Review enrollment data and projections
  • Review available funding
  • Continue focus on portfolio of existing facilities and structures
  • Includes the Technology Improvement Plan (TIP)

Student Enrollment- Current and Projected

  • September 30 Enrollment - 2019 to 2020 decrease of 2,448 (-2.7)
    • Elementary: - 2,032 students (-5%) (712 at Kindergarten level)
    • Middle: - 380 students (-1.8%)
    • High: +285 (+1.0%)
  • Last time we lost students was in 1982.
  • Projections for next year are speculative at best.
  • Financial projections are assumptive as well. When will we return to "normal"?

Sustainability

On June 10th the School Board approved a Sustainability Initiative. We are working collaboratively on:

  • Solar
  • Lighting Improvement Projects
  • Smart Buildings
  • Review CIP projects to determine applicability of net zero strategies
  • Sustainability Committee- Created to investigate and bring forward future projects.

FY2021 Deferred Projects- Restored to the CIP- total deferred $16,848,008

Proposed CIP Changes

  • New school construction- 4 new schools have been moved back at least 1 year.
  • Renovations at Brentsville HS moved to coincide with available funding (2026)
  • Specific Facility- Based Improvements- Auditorium Theater Technical Equipment Upgrades.
    • Renovations take place on a 25-year cycle. But need-based improvements will take place as needed.
    • School Maintenance and Repair- 7 and 14 year maintenance and repair cycle
    • School division was recognized for the CIP plan by outside organizations.
    • More information on the renewal and renovation cycles can be found on PWCS.EDU

Questions:

(Questions are copied and pasted from the Zoom Chat- answers are the bullet points. These answers may be transcribed and may not be grammatically accurate.)

HVAC systems in relation to COVID? (summarized from multiple questions)

  • We have purchased air filtration systems for the nurses stations. There are lots of discussions on air flow. It is on our radar. This CIP represents a strong commitment to make sure the HVAC systems are keeping air moving and fresh air in schools.

School Security- What are some things we have done in recent years (summarized question)

  • In April 2018 there was a recommendation for school enhancements. We have been working on secure entrances and a system to be "buzzed" in. It is an ongoing investment.

Will you please elaborate on your bullet point regarding auditorium technology improvements? What is the cycle for these upgrades?

  • The sound systems and the lighting systems will be updated at the high schools so they will be more equitable across the division. This is just proposed at this time. The School Board still has to approve these upgrades.

I hear upgrades and changes. What is been done to upgrade crowded school to accommodate for school population thus building expansion. For example my school Sinclair Elementary is lacking adequate space in this respect.

  • We wanted to build another ES in that area but could not find the land to do that. The plan was to build an equivalent number of classrooms at the surrounding schools in the form of new wings. But, we again found ourselves overcrowded. We will start construction on a new ES in March to help with the overcrowding in this area. (Planned to open in 2022)

Does the school's geographic location in the county have any bearing on how it is prioritized for renovation/repair?

  • Absolutely no bearing at all. We look at our schedule and use the age of the school as our guide. If we note components of the school that are in poor condition, we will adjust our plan. But in general, we follow our plan.

has land been acquired for the Occoquan Woodbridge Elementary school in 23-24

  • We are working on it.

Forgive me if you said this and I missed it but do we know yet if PWCS will be held harmless for the gap in funding for pupils lost? (hopefully I am saying that correctly)

  • My understanding is this is the case. The Governor will hold the schools harmless for the current year.

The overcrowding discussion is even more of a priority with the need to space students out. We are working to find creative solutions to overcrowding issues. We are looking carefully at use of space.

Bylaws Review

The Bylaw Review Committee met over Zoom. The major proposed changes were presented. These will be sent out with the minutes for members of the Council to review prior to the March meeting. In March, we will review these changes and vote to adopt the revisions.

Hot Topics:

Mr. Bassett answered additional questions from members for about 20 minutes.

Looking at next month

  • We will be approving revisions to the bylaws.
  • We will also be do the report writing for the annual report.
  • We suggest you contact your school advisory councils to see if they have topics they would like to see addressed in the annual report.
  • All the information we gather at our March meeting is what goes into the report. We will not add additional topics in April. If you can not be in attendance, you can email your topics to the officers prior to the meeting.

9:02 p.m. Meeting Adjourned.