DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 5
August 17, 2007
REGULATORY
|
TO: |
Division Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Certification of Adequate Funds
Budgeted to Meet Required Local Effort for the Standards of Quality and Local
Match Requirements for Certain State Funds in Fiscal Year 2008 Due:
October 1, 2007 |
Section 22.1-94, Code of Virginia, requires local
governing bodies to appropriate funds to school divisions that are sufficient
to maintain an educational program that meets the Standards of Quality
(SOQ). Section 22.1-97, Code of Virginia, sets forth the procedure that the
Department of Education must follow if a county, city, or town fails to
appropriate sufficient local funding to support the SOQ. The appropriation act also directs the
department to follow certain procedures for calculating required local effort
as well as procedures to follow if a school division does not spend the
required state and local shares for the SOQ.
In addition to procedures for calculating required local
effort for the SOQ, Item 135 of Chapter 847, 2007 Acts of Assembly (2006-2008
appropriation act), requires the Department of Education to ensure that school
divisions have appropriated sufficient local funds to meet required local
matches for optional School Facilities and Incentive programs in which they
have elected to participate. The appropriation
act requires local school divisions to certify to the department their intent
to participate in School Facilities and Incentive programs for fiscal year 2008
by October 1, 2007, and requires that the department ensure that sufficient
local funds have been appropriated before releasing state funds for such
programs. Attachment A to this
memorandum provides complete language for the referenced code and appropriation
act sections.
Each
school division must complete and return a “Budgeted Required Local Effort and
Required Local Match” certification file, provided as an Excel template, which
will calculate required local effort for SOQ programs and required local
matches for the School Facilities and Incentive programs. The template is located on the department’s
Web site and can be downloaded from the following address: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Finance/Budget/cdc/index.html
Please note that each jointly-operated school division (
The Excel template contains several spreadsheets that will
calculate required local effort for mandatory SOQ programs (Basic Aid, Gifted
Education, Vocational Education, Special Education, Prevention, Intervention
and Remediation, English as a Second Language, Fringe Benefits, and Textbooks)
and required local matches for optional School Facilities programs (Lottery and
School Construction Grants Program) and Incentive programs (At-Risk, Virginia
Preschool Initiative, Pre-K Pilot Program, Compensation Supplement, Early
Reading Intervention, K-3 Class Size Reduction, and SOL Algebra Readiness) for
fiscal year 2008. Instructions for
completing the Excel template are included in Attachment B to this memorandum. Attachment C to this memorandum provides the
account code structure for the Annual School Report Financial Section (ASRFIN)
that is referenced within the data collection template. School divisions should consult the account
code structure when completing this data collection.
The Excel template
provides a summary of required local effort for the SOQ and the required local
match for each program listed in the previous paragraph based on fiscal year
2008 funding levels pursuant to Chapter 847.
Divisions
are given the option to calculate required local effort and required local
matches for programs where the
funding is based on March 31 average daily membership (ADM) using either the
department’s latest ADM projections or locally developed ADM projections. The first step in the data collection will
determine whether sufficient local funds have been appropriated to maintain
required local effort for the SOQ based on division-provided data regarding
planned operating expenditures and specific adjustments for certain state,
federal, and local funds for fiscal year 2008.
Superintendents of school divisions whose local appropriations
for fiscal year 2008 are only slightly in excess of the amount required to
maintain local effort for the SOQ are requested to review their ADM totals
monthly. These superintendents must
request additional local funding from the local governing body whenever changes
in ADM increase the amount of required local effort beyond what has been
provided by the local governing body.
Documentation of all supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2008
should be furnished to the department.
The template will then calculate the amount of local capital
funds that are available to meet local match requirements for School Facilities
programs, and the remaining amount of local operating funds available to meet
local match requirements for School Facilities and Incentive programs (i.e., remaining
operating funds available after required local effort for the SOQ has been
met.)
Divisions are able to select the School Facilities and
Incentive programs in which they elect to participate and the template will
track the effect of each program’s local match requirement on available local funds. Divisions are encouraged to identify all of
the programs in which they want to participate.
If there are not enough local funds available to cover all of the chosen
programs, the division will be directed to request additional local funds from
the local governing body, and will be directed to a certification form to
certify the request for additional funds.
Please note, however, that the department will not be able to release
state funds for these programs until the division has obtained additional local
appropriation to meet the required local matches.
After the worksheets within the template are complete and
have passed all error checks successfully, the appropriate certification forms
for required local effort for SOQ programs and required local matches for
School Facilities and Incentive programs will be available for the division
superintendent and program contact to sign.
Please note that some of the certification sheets require information in
addition to the superintendent’s signature.
Specific instructions for each of the certification forms are provided
in Attachment B to this memorandum.
Attachment B to this memorandum also provides detailed
instructions for accessing the Excel template through the department’s Web
site; for completing the template to calculate projected required local effort
and required local matches; and for submitting the signed certification forms
and final Excel file to the department.
Please complete the Excel template and e-mail it to the
department at k12budget@doe.virginia.gov.
A hard copy of each certification form, signed by the division
superintendent, must be mailed to:
Attention: Budget Office
The Excel template and the signed certification forms are
due to the department no later than October 1, 2007, as required by the
appropriation act.
If you have questions regarding the Excel template or the
accompanying instructions, please contact the budget office at (804) 225-2025.
BKCJr/shd
Attachments
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/reg005a.pdf
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/reg005b.pdf
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/reg005c.pdf