COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

 

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 15

April 1, 2005

 

ADMINISTRATIVE


TO:

Division Superintendents

 

FROM:

Jo Lynne DeMary

Superintendent of Public Instruction

 

SUBJECT:

Virginia Public School Authority Educational Technology Notes Series V, Spring 2005

 

 

The Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA) is conducting the fifth sale of equipment notes, Series V, in the educational technology grant program providing funding to school divisions to develop and implement the Standards of Learning (SOL) Web-based Technology Initiative. Funding for this program is targeted to achieve the following four goals:

 

  1. Provide student access to computers at a ratio of one computer for every five students;

 

  1. Create Internet-ready local area network capability in every school;

 

  1. Assure adequate high-speed, high-bandwidth capability for instructional, remedial, and testing needs, and;

 

  1. Establish a statewide Standards of Learning test delivery system.

 

The VPSA is planning to sell the spring 2005 Educational Technology Notes, Series V, on May 4, 2005, and to close on the notes deal on May 25, 2005. Proceeds of the Series V notes will be made available for reimbursement of qualifying expenditures to localities following the scheduled closing on May 25, 2005.

 

Due to the limited number of business days between the notes issuance date and the end of fiscal year 2005, reimbursements that need to be received by localities prior to July 1, 2005 must be received by the department electronically and the original signature page sent to the department, as indicated below, by June 17, 2005, to ensure ample time to process the requests. Please note that no request for reimbursements may be processed until the note proceeds have officially been issued.

 

Attachment A to this memorandum lists the local grant allocations for the Series V VPSA note issue. Grants to school divisions for the Series V notes are based on $26,000 per school and $50,000 per school division. Eligible schools include those reporting fall membership as of September 30, 2004, as well as division and regional vocational, special education, and alternative education centers, regular school year Governors schools, and the two Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind in the cities of Staunton and Hampton. The 2004 General Assembly session added language to the adopted budget that now excludes facilities that only serve pre-kindergarten students. Localities are required to provide a match of funds equal to 20 percent of the total grant amounts provided to the school division. At least 25 percent of the local match shall be used for teacher training in the use of this technology. Regional centers and the two schools for the deaf and blind are not required to provide a 20 percent match to their grant amount.

 

Please note that reimbursements for the Series V issue for regional vocational, regional special education, Governors schools, and regional alternative education centers may be made directly to the regional centers. School divisions will not be required to deposit the regional centers share of the note proceeds in their account and then pass those proceeds to the regional center. Please make sure the correct regional center bank account number is included on page 2 of the Series V request for reimbursement form.

 

Consistent with previous VPSA notes, payments to school divisions and regional centers will be on a reimbursement basis only. Localities and regional centers must first complete payments for the qualifying equipment purchased and then file a Series V reimbursement request with the Department of Education. School divisions and regional centers that adopted a reimbursement resolution and made expenditures prior to the issuance of the Series V notes are required to certify that all reimbursements are qualifying reimbursements. Please note that school divisions and regional centers may not be reimbursed for qualifying expenditures incurred more than 60 days prior to the adoption of a reimbursement resolution.

 

The Series V reimbursement request form is a downloadable Excel template. This file is available on the Department of Educations website at:

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/soltech/docs/ReimburseSpr05Series5.xls

 

The Series V reimbursement form includes certification provisions that incorporate federal and state requirements regarding capital expenditures that qualify for reimbursement. School divisions are primarily responsible for determining whether requests for reimbursement are permissible under federal and state requirements. Public school officials should carefully read and initial the certification provisions to ensure that none of their reimbursement requests violate any of the stated provisions.

 

Because the reimbursement request form incorporates the certification provisions, localities are not required to submit copies of supporting documentation to the Department of Education; however, copies of all supporting documents (invoices, work orders, statements, etc.) for which reimbursement is to be made must be retained by the school division for at least five years in the event an audit is required. All reimbursement requests for the VPSA Series V notes issue must be made using the above-referenced Series V form. The Department of Education will review the reimbursement request and, when approved, file the request on behalf of the school division with the Virginia State Non-Arbitrage Program, which serves as the investment and account manager for the note proceeds. Please note that no reimbursement requests for the Series V notes will be approved until the divisions Educational Technology Notes, Series IV (Spring 2004) note proceeds are spent.

 

Proceeds from the Series IV and Series V issues may not be used for middle schools until all high schools in your division have achieved Stage 2 High School Readiness Certification. See Administrative Supts. Memo No. 27, dated May 17, 2002, for additional information on certification procedures. Also, the proceeds of the Series V notes may not be used for elementary schools until all middle schools in your division have achieved Stage 2 Middle School Readiness Certification. Procedures for achieving all levels of school readiness certification are explained in the following document:

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/soltech/docs/School_Readiness_Doc.pdf

 

The School Readiness Certification workbook is a downloadable Excel template. This file is available on the Department of Educations website at:

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/soltech/docs/School_Readiness_Cert.xls

 

If expenditures for middle or elementary schools are submitted prior to achieving the appropriate certifications, those expenditures cannot be reimbursed until after the certifications have been achieved.

 

Please submit all Series V requests for reimbursement using the Series V reimbursement request form referenced above. E-mail your completed request to Richard Schley at VPSA5@doe.virginia.gov. In addition, please mail a signed copy of the reimbursement form to the following address:

 

Richard Schley

Office of Instructional Technology

Virginia Department of Education

James Monroe Building 22nd Floor

101 North 14th Street

Richmond, VA 23219

 

No requests for reimbursement will be processed until the Department of Education has received both the electronic Series V form and your signed hardcopy Series V form with each certification initialed.

 

Educational Technology Notes, Series IV (Spring 2004):

 

As initially announced in Administrative Supts. Memo No. 16, dated May 21, 2004, the Series IV notes were sold by the VPSA in June 2004. Proceeds of the Series IV notes were available for reimbursement of qualifying expenditures to school divisions on and after the closing date of June 24, 2004. For grant allocations of Series IV VPSA notes, see Attachment A to Administrative Supts. Memo No. 16, dated May 21, 2004 (also included with Attachment B to this memorandum). These proceeds continue to be available to localities for reimbursement of qualifying expenditures for 18 months from the Series IV closing date. All reimbursement forms for the Series IV issue must be submitted to the department no later than October 1, 2005. As noted above, no reimbursement requests for the Series V notes will be approved until the divisions Educational Technology Notes, Series IV note proceeds are spent. Attachment B to this memorandum provides a status of the Series IV allocation balance.

 

For divisions that have not completed reimbursement of expenditures from the Series IV VPSA notes, the procedures outlined in Administrative Supts. Memo No. 16, dated May 21, 2004, should be followed, and the Series IV reimbursement request form should be used. The Series IV reimbursement request form is a downloadable Excel template available on the Department of Educations Web site located at:

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/soltech/docs/ReimburseSpr04Series4.xls

 

Educational Technology Notes, Series III (Spring 2003):

 

As initially announced in Administrative Supts. Memo No. 12, dated March 14, 2003, the Series III notes were sold by the VPSA in May 2003. Proceeds of the Series III notes were available for reimbursement of qualifying expenditures to school divisions on and after the closing date of May 28, 2003. These proceeds were available to localities for reimbursement of qualifying expenditures for 18 months from the Series III closing date, or November 30, 2004. All reimbursement forms for the Series III issue should have been submitted to the department no later than September 30, 2004. For the Series III VPSA notes grant balances of delinquent divisions, see Attachment C to this memorandum. As noted above, no reimbursement requests for the Series IV or V notes will be approved until the divisions Educational Technology Notes, Series III note proceeds are spent and reimbursed.

 

For divisions that have not completed reimbursement of expenditures from the Series III VPSA notes, the procedures outlined in Administrative Supts. Memo No. 12, dated March 14, 2003, should be followed, and the Series III reimbursement request form should be used. The Series III reimbursement request form is a downloadable Excel template available on the Department of Educations website located at:

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/soltech/docs/ReimburseSpr03Series3.xls

 

Educational Technology Notes, Series VI (Spring 2006):

 

The Governors proposed amendments to the 2004-2006 biennial budget include funding to continue the educational technology notes program in 2005 and 2006 with debt service paid through the Literary Fund. Virginia Public Schools Authority (VPSA) equipment notes totaling approximately $58 million per year are expected to be issued in the spring of 2005 and 2006. Please note that proposed amendments to the 2004-2006 biennial budget were subject to final action at the 2005 General Assembly session.

 

 

 

The amended 2004-2006 biennial budget maintains grant amounts at $26,000 per school (for K-12 schools reporting fall membership and for various division and regional programs) and $50,000 per school division. A required local match is maintained at 20 percent of the state grant amount, and 25 percent of the required local match must be used for teacher training. The continuation of the VPSA initiative is intended to increase school divisions capability for web-based instruction, remediation and testing of the Standards of Learning.

 

The amended 2004-2006 biennial budget also updates the number of schools eligible for funding under the VPSA technology grants. Funding to school divisions for the VPSA technology grants program has been decreased by $390,000 in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 based on actual reported school participation in fiscal year 2005 and revised projections of school participation in fiscal year 2006. Attachment D to this memorandum lists the estimated local grant allocations for the Series VI VPSA note issue.

 

School divisions that have spent all of their Series IV and Series V note proceeds and that have adopted a reimbursement resolution for the Series VI (Spring 2006) notes issue may make purchases in support of the Web-based SOL Technology Initiative; however, please be aware that the note proceeds will not be available for reimbursement until after the closing of the notes sale, which will likely be in late spring 2006. Please be aware that, prior to incurring any costs, the local school board must state its intention to use the proceeds of the equipment notes to reimburse that payment. This must be done through a reimbursement resolution adopted by the local school board. A sample resolution is provided as Attachment E to this memorandum. Please note that localities may not reimburse themselves for project-related expenditures incurred more than 60 days prior to the adoption of the resolution.

 

If you have questions relating to the financing or determination of qualifying reimbursements, please call the budget staff at (804) 225-2025. If you have questions relating to qualifying equipment that may be purchased from the VPSA note proceeds (i.e., hardware, software), please call Richard Schley in the Office of Instructional Technology at (804) 371-6882.

 

JLD/rs

 

Attachments

 

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm015a.pdf

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm015b.pdf

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm015c.pdf

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm015d.pdf

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/adm015e.pdf