2019 Legislative PrioritiesJoint Work Session of the

Prince William County School Board and

Prince William County Legislative DelegationDr. Babur B. Lateef, School Board Chairman At-Large, On Behalf of the Prince William County School Board

November 19, 2018

Welcome LegislativePartners for Educational Success

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Today’s Agenda• Profile of Excellence• Providing A World-Class Education• Strategic Plan• Celebrating Success• Budget Challenges • 2019 Legislative Priorities• Discussion• Next Steps

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PWCS Profile of Excellence• More than 90,200 students• 100 schools and centers• More than 11,500 employees

• More than 91.5% of employees are school-basedo Largest employer in Prince William Countyo Welcomed nearly 800 teachers new to PWCS

• Virginia’s second largest school division • Nation’s 35th largest of 16,000

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Based on latest available data.

Student Demographics (minority-majority division)34.39% Hispanic/Latino of any race30.00% White20.34% Black or African American 9.03% Asian5.80% Two or more races American 0.22% Indian/Alaskan Native0.22% Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander

25.77% English Learners (EL)12.60% Students with Disabilities 40.67% Economically Disadvantaged

PWCS Profile of Excellence

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PWCS Profile of ExcellenceOur Support Services Staff Provide Daily…

• More than 9,200 breakfasts and nearly 51,000 lunches

• 814 buses serve 61,000 riders traveling 56,000 miles daily

• Cleaning of more than 11,200,000 square feet of space

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Independence Nontraditional School

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Parkway Elementary

Profile of ExcellenceNew Schools: On Schedule and Within Budget

Our Mission:Providing A World-Class Education

• Focus is on high learning and achievement standards for all.

• Instruction is engaging and rigorous.

• Reading and writing literacy is taught in all content areas.

• We support all students’ academic, social, emotional needs of all students.

• Schools and offices are inviting, welcoming, and customer oriented.

• We will accomplish our Strategic Plan by working together.

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Strategic Plan: 20/20 Vision for a World-Class Education Student Achievement – All students meet high standards of performance.

Climate –The teaching, learning, and working environment is safe, caring, healthy, and values human diversity.

Family, Community and Employee Engagement – Family, community, and employee engagement create an environment focused on improved student learning and work readiness.

Qualified Work Force – Employees are highly qualified (as defined by VDOE), high performing and diverse.

Organizational Alignment – The organizational system is aligned and equitable.

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Why is Providing A World-Class EducationImportant to Prince William County?

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• Businesses consider educational quality when selecting new locations.

• A well-educated and highly trained workforce is essential to the community’s economic health.

• Our students are the entrepreneurial, business, civic, and community leaders of tomorrow.

Celebrating Student Success• 100% of PWCS Schools Accredited • On-time graduation rate of 92.1 percent,

2018• National School Boards Association

Magna Award, 2018 – Advanced Programs for All

• Graduates awarded $74 million in scholarships, 2018

• Awarded nearly 10,000 CTE Certificates –areas include IT, engineering, culinary, welding

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Celebrating Staff Success

Based on latest available data.

• Northern Virginian of the Year, Fred M. Lynn Middle School Principal, 2018

• Eight teachers named Gold Star Teachers for student performance on W!se Financial Literacy Certification test, 2018

• National Distinguished Principal Award for Virginia, National Association of Elementary School Principals/Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals, 2017-18

• Finalists for Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 2016, 2018

• National Outstanding Assistant Principal, Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals, 2015-18

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PWCS Budget Needs • Employee salaries – step increase and a

cost of living adjustment• Mental health support• Addition of high school courses and

expansion of Career/Technical Education programs

• Sustaining our class size reduction initiative • Continued funding for current Pre-K

programs

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State-Focused Budget Challenges

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• Inflation-adjusted state funding for SOQs currently at 2008 level

• Cost of Competing funds down $12 million since 2012oDon’t cover support staff

• Regional School Funding $20 million decrease

• VRS costs uncertain

2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities 1. Full Funding for the Standards of Quality (SOQ)Prince William County Public Schools supports legislation that provides full funding for implementing all the Standards of Quality, including the cost of support personnel, and not divert public resources away from public education.

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2019 Legislative Priorities2. Teacher Salary Increases and Cost-Of-Competing Allocation (COCA)The Prince William County School Board supports legislation that provides funding for annual teacher salary increases and reinstates full funding of Cost-of-Competing Allocation for Region IV school divisions for both teachers and support staff.

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2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities3. Targeted, New Funding to Reduce Class-SizeThe Prince William County School Board supports legislation that provides targeted new state funding for both classroom space and for the additional teachers needed to reduce class-sizes sufficiently to improve academic results.

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2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities4. Repeal or Modify Proffer LimitationsThe Prince William County School Board supports legislation that removes limitations on proffers in the Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2303.4, or exempts fast growing school divisions to provide for essential construction of new schools and other development-driven needs.

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2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities5. Alternative Assessments to Standardized Tests The Prince William County School Board supports legislation that provides school divisions with alternative assessments, other than standardized tests, to effectively assess and encourage student acquisition and application of knowledge and skills; and reassess the need for formal assessment of elementary writing skills.

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2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities6. Eliminate VRS Obstacle to Full-Time Employment of Retired Police for School SecurityThe Prince William County School Board supports legislation that modifies the Code of Virginia to allow the Virginia Retirement System to remove the 80 percent work limitation imposed on retirees, eliminating obstacles currently preventing recruitment and hiring of retired law-enforcement officers in full-time school security positions.

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2019 PWCS Legislative Priorities7. Remove Impediments to Beneficial Sharing of Student Contact InformationThe Prince William County School Board supports the elimination of the recent changes to § 22.1-287.1 of the Code of Virginia, removing the need for advance permission when schools share student home and email addresses and phone numbers, which are often shared with parents, with specific third parties for the explicit purpose of offering students and their families access to information and services deemed educationally beneficial by division superintendents or their designees.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

BUSINESS/BUILDING/SAFETY• Support and advocate for all bills that

modify applicable sections of the Virginia Code regarding the use of stop arm cameras on school buses to allow authorized vendors to collect information on behalf of the school division and support enforcement of violations through the courts.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE• Oppose all bills that would mandate additional

statewide disciplinary procedures that would inhibit school administrators in circumstances where immediate disciplinary intervention is required, or otherwise limit the discretion of administrators in disciplinary matters.

• Authorize school attendance officers to file petitions with the Juvenile Intake Office for enforcement of court orders entered by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in response to “Child in Need of Services” petitions under compulsory attendance laws.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

FINANCE/PURCHASING/FOOD SERVICE• Support all bills that eliminate the local school

division budgetary match currently required to receive Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) funding, allowing school divisions to expand preschool opportunities without negatively impacting funding for other programs and services.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

FINANCE/PURCHASING/FOOD SERVICE• Support and advocate for all bills that provide

increased and targeted funding for educational technology infrastructure and increased bandwidth.

• Support and advocate for all bills that modify current language for the use of VPSA bonds so that computer refresh funding is not limited to capital expenses (as currently defined by VPSA) but can also be used to purchase tablets and other mobile devices.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

INSTRUCTION AND STANDARDS OF LEARNING• Support and advocate for all bills directing the state to

define comparable verified units for graduation purposes for students transferring to Virginia school divisions from other states.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY • Support and advocate for all bills to establish

a dedicated funding stream sufficient to provide continued, annual funding to PWCS to coordinate the statewide implementation of VA STAR, which provides free, refurbished computers to students and schools in need of technology.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE • Support and advocate for all bills that would give local school

divisions more flexibility to develop and implement quality instruction and to implement policies that improve K-12 effectiveness and efficiency, such as repeal of the law that prevents school divisions from opening before Labor Day.

• Oppose all bills that would divest (limit) local school boards of their authority over the formation and operation of charter schools within their school divisions.

• Support and advocate for all bills that eliminate unnecessary mandates and fully fund any new mandates placed upon school divisions.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

Standards of Quality/Standards of Accreditation • Support and advocate for bills that prevent an “A-F

Grading Scale” to rank Virginia’s schools.• Support and advocate for bills that continue to reexamine

Virginia's public school assessments and the system of accountability, while encouraging creative delivery of content in the classroom.

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Standards of Quality/Standards of Accreditation • Support and advocate for bills that increase funding to provide

one school nurse for every 550 students, as recommended by the National Association of School Nurses and VBOE.

• Support and advocate for bills that increase funding for Instructional Technology Coaches (ITCs) and Technology Specialists (TSSPECs) from 1:1,000 students to 1:550 students.

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

Standards of Quality/Standards of Accreditation • Support and advocate for bills that increase funding to

boost the number of mental health professionals:– Counselors -- 1:250 students– Psychologists -- 1:1,000 students– Social workers -- 1:1,000 students Recommended by the American School Counselor Association and VBOE

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2019 PWCS School Board Statements of Support/Opposition

Discussion / Q & A

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Next Steps …• Special individual meetings to clarify priorities,

and answer questions.• Consider filing bills/amendments that align

with PWCS priorities.• Let us know of education-related bills that

might be forthcoming and seek our input.• School Board Members will visit you in

Richmond around VSBA Capital Conference.

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2019 Legislative PrioritiesJoint Work Session of the

Prince William County School Board and

Prince William County Legislative Delegation

Dr. Babur B. Lateef, School Board Chairman At-Large, On Behalf of the Prince William County School Board

November 19, 2018