ACPS Parent Council

Parent Council Members,

Thank you for a successful year of advocacy and information sharing on behalf of our students.  We appreciate all of your efforts of support in attending our meetings, public hearings, writing local officials, responding to calls for action and efforts to share information among schools, etc.

Attached is the meeting update of our May 6th meeting, as well as a final budget update provided by Dr. Bruce Benson, Assistant Superintendent.  

It was wonderful to have so many PTO reps join us May 6th, and we may have missed a few names on the update. 

Of special note, please share the Decision Making Model Matrix (distributed at May 6th meeting) with your PTO Leadership and ask for feedback/input.  PC's rep to the committee, Stacy Walker, needs to hear responses and thoughts in order for the committee to finalize its work and report to Dr. Moran.  If you did not receive a hard copy of the model, Stacy Walker can email it to you, her email is walkx4@embarqmail.com .  Thank you Stacy for representing PC on the committee.

PC's meeting dates for the coming year, as well as scheduled workshops are noted on the update.  Please share with your school's PC rep, principals, PTO leadership now.

Many thanks for your continuing support on behalf of our students.  We look forward to working with you again next year!

The School Board will finalize its budget this Thursday, April 24th.  Although the BOS voted in support of the $0.71 tax rate (an increase), the School Board will consider budget reductions due to additional losses in State revenues and increasing fuel costs.  Many parents thought since the tax rate was increased, the School Board's proposed budget will be fully funded.  However, this is probably not the case. 

School Board Chairman Brian Wheeler wrote on his School Matters Listserv newsletter(http://www.wheeleronboard.com/schoolmatters.htm) that he anticipates the School Board's $151.3 million budget request for 08-09 to be fully funded.  Chairman Wheeler also wrote the School Board will continue with some cuts as part of its implementation of recommendations in the Resource Utilization Study (i.e. central office expenditures).  Chairman Wheeler continued that other cuts (i.e. strings, world languages staffing subsidies) or additions (i.e. specialty centers) that were identified in various contingency plans will be on the table for final review.

The proposed budget included significant benefits:

• increasing LITERACY SPECIALIST  time 
• providing  MATH  SPECIALISTS
• increasing TECHNOLOGY  SUPPORT to teachers
• professional development support for TEACHERS
• increasing intervention and prevention support

Please take a moment to contact the School Board members in support of these bullet items. 

The School Board must allocate the funding provided by the BOS.  And the School Board will decide this Thursday, April 24th its final budget.

All School Board members may be contacted by ONE email to:

Parent Council Members:

Many thanks for your efforts during the past several BOS public hearings regarding the budget.  We had great PC support at the April 2nd public hearing with:

• 23 people speaking in support of school funding
• 21 people speaking in support of the current tax rate
• 5 people speaking in support of IMPACT affordable housing
• 3 young people (students) speaking in support of school funding
• 1 person speaking in opposition to school funding
• 3 people speaking in favor of a 71 cent tax rate

Your efforts to share information with your school parents, teachers, education supporters made a significant difference to highlight how our schools would have suffered under the proposed budget reductions.

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) held a 4 1/2 hour budget work session yesterday (Wednesday the 9th), and finally decided upon a 71 cent tax rate by a vote of 4-2.  The BOS included a stipulation that 1 cent of tax revenues (about $1.6 million) be set aside and only used if projected revenues are less than budgeted during the next fiscal year.  Any funds not used for revenue shortfalls will be returned to the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) budget at the end of the year.

Parent Council Members:

We are in the final stretch of our school year. Thank you for your support on Parent Council issues and initiatives. We have a Parent Council meeting and our final public hearing before the Board of Supervisors this week. Please share this information with your school community and encourage their participation.

1. PARENT COUNCIL MEETING - Tuesday, April 1st, 7-9pm, Room 320 County Office Building.

2. DONATIONS - towards Parent Council's car magnets "Strong Public Schools = Strong Communities - ALBEMARLE COUNTY", please bring donations to the PC meeting for deposit.

3. BUDGET UPDATE - Superintendent Pam Moran provided the attached budget update. The Board of Supervisors will hold it's FINAL public hearing regarding the advertised real estate tax rate this coming Wednesday, April 2nd (6:00pm) in Lane Auditorium of the County Office Building. Please review Dr. Moran's budget update to familiarize yourself with the impact of the tax rate upon our school system.

4. DINNER BEFORE WEDNESDAY'S PUBLIC HEARING - Parent Council will partner with AEA to provide pizza, sides, and drinks prior to the public hearing at 5:30pm Wednesday, April 2nd in the room directly across from Lane Auditorium. Please encourage your parents, teachers, students, education supporters to attend the public hearing and contact BOS in support of education funding.

Remember the BOS can be contacted by 1 email address: bos@albemarle.org

5. PETITION IN SUPPORT OF EDUCATION FUNDING -- Please share the online petition in support of education funding (created by Sally Cushing of Brownsville): http://www.gopetition.com/online/17674

6. INFORMATION NEEDED:

Please bring this information with you to Tuesday's PC meeting. We hope to use this information to emphasize to the Board of Supervisors the significant support parents/ PTO/PTA supporters provide to our schools.

1. Your school's total PTO/PTA budget, and number of students enrolled
2. Volunteer hours served to your school by all volunteers
3. Specific programs your PTO/PTA supports/funds

Thank you for your continuing support!

Parent Council Members,

THANKS
Thanks to Barbara Higgins for providing the update from our Tuesday evening, March 4th, PC meeting. And, THANK YOU for your efforts to attend the Wednesday evening, March 5th, BOS public hearing regarding the budget. We had great Parent Council representation. Please continue to encourage your school students, parents, teachers to contact the Board of Supervisors (bos@albemarle.org) in support of education funding. Time is of the essence as the BOS has scheduled several budget work sessions during the next 2 weeks.

FINAL BUDGET HEARING
The final budget public hearing regarding the budget is Wednesday, April 2nd, 6:00pm. Please spread the word and encourage attendance. Parent Council will, once again, partner with AEA to provide pizza, drinks and sides, at 5:30pm on April 2nd in the room directly across from Lane Auditorium. Please invite your school supporters to join us.

PC CAR MAGNETS
PC's car magnets "Strong Public Schools = Strong Communities" have arrived. Thanks to Tara and Mark Mincer for helping us tweak the design and place the order. PC determined not to charge a fee for the magnets, and we received several generous contributions from education supporters (parents, School Board members, community supporters) toward the effort. PC's goal is to encourage supporters to place the magnets on their cars, rather than refrigerators, filing cabinets, etc. in order to get the message out into the community.

Parent Council Members:

Please share the following announcements with your school.

1. CATEC has several Summer Career Camps available for Grades 8-10 and Grades 11-12. Please share this information and the attached flyer with your school. Information : Debbie Gannon dgannon@k12albemarle.org 973-4461

2. Community Forum on Preventing Underage Drinking is scheduled Monday, March 31st at 7pm in the County Office Building. Flyer attached. Information: Laura Anderson (434/972-1881), lauraa@regionten.org

3. Monticello High School will host "Cinderella's Closet," on March 22nd. It's an opportunity to buy gently used prom dresses for about $25, proceeds to benefit Monticello's Make a Difference Fund. Flyer attached. Information: Karen Collier (434/531-9527) CinderellasCloset@hotmail.com

4. An online petition in support of education funding via the Internet is available, thanks to Sally Cushing's (Brownsville) efforts. Please share this web link with your school:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/17674

Sally created a similar petition during last year's budget considerations, and received 177 signatures. Thank you Sally !

Dominion Virginia Power & the Dominion Foundation will award approximately $300,000 in educational partnership grants (up to $10,000 per grant) throughout targeted areas where Dominion has business interests (see geographic eligibility on the website). Public and private elementary and secondary schools and public school divisions that are registered with the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), institutions of higher education and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are invited to apply.

The next Board of Supervisors Public Hearing about the budget is Wednesday, March 5th at 6:00pm at Lane Auditorium in the County Office Building on McIntire Road.

Dr. Pam Moran, the Superintendant of the Albemarle Schools, writes about the latest financial numbers for the schools, which are dependent on the tax rate set by the county for its funding.

Needless to say, these latest reductions, on top of the reductions already made this year, and last year, are dramatic and will impact students at every level. If you cannot attend the BOS meeting tomorrow night, please consider sending the Board an email indicating your support for fully funding the proposed school budget at bos@albemarle.org. (Even if you have sent one before!) As Supervisor David Slutsky stated, it is the difference in cost equal to a pizza and a drink every month for each family.

If you do not weigh in, you can be sure that others who do not want to pay for good schools will be heard. Tax opponents will argue that modest increases in student numbers warrant smaller increases in the budget. These arguments fail to account for increases in fuel costs, ESOL students, and the salaries of good teachers.

The local media are actively discussing the topic of the ACPS buget, and how it relates to the county budget. If you nee background material on the challenges of this years budget, and the perceptions of other viewpoints, please take the time to read some of these articles.

http://www.acpsparentcouncil.org/inthenews