COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 42
July 22, 2005
ADMINISTRATIVE
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Certifications for Certain State Funds in Fiscal Year 2006 Due: August 31, 2005 |
Chapter
951, 2005 Acts of Assembly, (2004-2006 appropriation act) requires school
divisions to submit certifications for certain optional, incentive-based
accounts before the Department of Education can release the state funding. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide
you with the certification forms for several of these accounts. For fiscal year 2006, an Excel template will
be used to facilitate the collection of the required certifications. The Excel template can be downloaded from
the departments website at the following address:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Finance/Budget/cdc/index.html
Attachment
A to this memorandum provides instructions for accessing the Excel file from
the departments website.
This
memorandum addresses the certification requirements for the following accounts:
1. School Construction Grants Program
Fiscal year 2005 funds carried over at the local level and fiscal year 2006
funds may be used for school construction, additions, renovations,
infrastructure, site acquisition, technology, other expenditures related to
modernizing classroom equipment, school safety equipment or school safety
renovations, and payments to escrow accounts pursuant to Chapter 391, 1999 Acts
of Assembly (Section 22.1-175.5, Code of Virginia). School Construction Grant funds may also be
used for debt service on projects completed within the previous 10 years (since
fiscal year 1996 inclusive). This
10-year limit, back to fiscal year 1996, applies to all sources of state school
construction funds expended in fiscal year 2006, including those funds spent from
the School Construction Escrow Fund, regardless of the fiscal year the funds
were originally provided by the state.
The School Construction Grants Program certification sheet requests information on actual expenditures for fiscal year 2005 and estimated expenditures for fiscal year 2006. The certification sheet also requests information regarding the handling of School Construction Grant funds by the local governing body. Fifty percent of School Construction Grant funds will be distributed in December 2005, pending receipt and approval of the required certification form. The remaining 50 percent of funds will be distributed in May 2006.
2. Lottery Funds - Signing this form
certifies that the division will maintain a certain level of total local
operating expenditures (details are on the certification form) and that state
lottery funds will be appropriated only for uses permitted and specified in the
appropriation act. The permitted uses
of state lottery funds are defined in Item 147 of the 2004-2006 appropriation
act (Chapter 951, 2005 Acts of Assembly) as follows:
no more than 50 percent shall be used for recurring costs and at least 50 percent shall be spent on nonrecurring expenditures by the relevant school divisions. Nonrecurring costs shall include school construction, additions, infrastructure, site acquisition, renovations, technology, and other expenditures related to modernizing classroom equipment, and debt service payments on school projects completed during the last 10 years.
In addition, a local match based on the Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay is required to receive the state funds. After the Department of Education receives and approves all certifications, the distribution of fiscal year 2006 lottery funds will begin on a semi-monthly basis.
3. At-Risk Signing this form certifies
that the state and local shares of the At-Risk payment for fiscal year 2006
will be used to support approved programs for students who are locally
identified as educationally at-risk. A
local match based on the Composite Index of Local Ability-to-Pay is required to
receive the state funds. Payments
for this account in fiscal year 2006 began on July 16, 2005, and will be
continued on each semimonthly
electronic funds transfer (EFT); however, divisions are required to submit the
certification form to the Department of Education by August 31, 2005, or these
funds will be withdrawn and future payments will be stopped. Beginning in fiscal year 2006, At-Risk funds
may also be used for community and school-based truancy officer programs.
4. Standards of Learning Algebra Readiness
Signing this form certifies that an intervention program will be offered in
fiscal year 2006 to students who are identified through the state-provided
Algebra Readiness Diagnostic Test (ARDT) as needing additional instruction, and
that students who receive intervention services will be assessed again at the
end of the 2005-2006 school year as a condition of receiving state funds under
this program in fiscal year 2006. You
will also certify on this form that state funds received for this program in
fiscal year 2005 that were unspent at the end of the fiscal year were carried
over to fiscal year 2006 and re-appropriated to the school division for use
only in the SOL Algebra Readiness program in fiscal year 2006. A local match based on the Composite Index
of Local Ability-to-Pay is required to receive the state funds. These entitlements will be paid in two equal
payments in November 2005, after the department receives and approves the required
certifications, and in March 2006, after the department updates the payments
for actual 2005 fall membership.
If you plan to use a locally developed
or selected diagnostic test instead of using the state-provided diagnostic test
(ARDT), you must check the box on the certification form indicating that you
plan to use a locally developed or selected diagnostic test subject to approval
by the department.
Regardless of the diagnostic test that
is administered, you must also submit a second superintendents certification
form to the Instructional Division.
This certification form can be obtained from the departments Forms
Web page (under the Instruction section) at the following address:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Forms/
5. Compensation Supplement You must
certify, no later than March 1, 2006, that an average salary increase,
equivalent to at least the value of a 3 percent increase effective December 1,
2005, will be granted to classroom teachers in fiscal year 2006. Upon receipt of the certification, payments
will be made in semimonthly installments, beginning on the December 16, 2005,
EFT. In the event the certification
form is received after December 16, 2005, payments will begin approximately one
month after the departments receipt of the certification. A local match, based on the Composite Index
of Local Ability-to-Pay, is required to receive the state funds.
6. Participation Intent Checklist This
checklist provides a summary of your intent to participate in the five incentive-based
programs addressed in this memorandum.
This summary indicates whether your division intends to participate in
each program in fiscal year 2006.
Please
note that forms for all other accounts requiring certification for fiscal year
2006 are communicated through separate superintendents memoranda. These include:
K-3 Primary
Class Size Reduction The fiscal year 2006 certification will be sent to
school divisions as part of the 2005 fall data collection. All data needed to calculate these payments
will come from the 2005 fall data collection.
No other data collections will be required.
Early Reading
Intervention Informational Superintendents Memorandum No. 107, dated May 20,
2005, included instructions and the certification for participating in this
program in fiscal year 2006. The
certification was due to the department by June 30, 2005.
At-Risk
Four-Year-Olds (Virginia Preschool Initiative) Informational Superintendents
Memorandum No. 71, dated April 1, 2005, included the application package and
required certifications for fiscal year 2006.
The application was due to the department by May 15, 2005.
All
school divisions are required to return the signed certifications and Excel
template to the budget office by August 31, 2005, unless otherwise noted,
indicating whether or not your division is participating in these optional
programs in fiscal year 2006. The
August 31, 2005, deadline does not apply to the certification required for
receipt of the certification for the Compensation Supplement, which has a due
date of no later than March 1, 2006.
Please
mail the signed certifications to:
Virginia Department of Education
Attn: Budget Office
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, Virginia 23218-2120
Please also e-mail
the completed Excel template to K12Budget@doe.virginia.gov. If
you have any questions concerning this certification process, please contact
budget office staff at (804) 225-2025.
JLD/mec
Attachment
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm042a.pdf