Rappahannock County Public Schools
School Board Office - 6 Schoolhouse Road Washington , Virginia 22747 Telephone (540) 987-8773 FAX (540) 987-8896 Email: div078@pen.k12.va.us Website: http://rappahannock.va.schoolwebpages.com/ February 14, 2008 RCPS Facts 4U Bulletin: Thank you to Rappahannock Citizens who wrote Over 500 letters to help achieve the PRELIMINARY victories in the General Assembly. That's right, MUCH work remains to be done for the Rapp "Fair Funding" Bills to gain final approval.
The bills that passed floor votes Feb. 12 now "cross-over" (House Bill 936 to Senate / Senate Bill 559 to House of Delegates) and will be considered by committees probably week of Feb. 18. If the bills clear committees, then they will go back to the floor of the Senate and the House of Delegates for another vote. If the bills pass both chambers and are identical (presently they are), the bills will go to the Governor for his consideration.
What can you do? Our lobbyist, former Delegate Pete Giesen, says it is important to send "Thank you emails to the Senators and Delegates who voted for our bills on Feb. 12." Deadline: ASAP.
"Yea" votes in the House of Delegates: Abbitt, Alexander, Athey, BaCote, Bell, Bowling, Byron, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Dance, Englin, Fralin, Frederick, Gear, Gilbert, Griffith, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Howell, A.T., Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, S.C., Kilgore, Landes, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, Mathieson, May, McClellan, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Morgan, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Pogge, Poindexter, Purkey, Putney, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Shuler, Suit, Tata, Tyler, Valentine, Ward, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Wright, Howell. "Yea" votes in the Senate: Blevins, Colgan, Cuccinelli, Deeds, Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Miller, J.C., Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Quayle, Ruff, Smith, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins Email Addresses for legislators can be found at this site - http://leg1.state.va.us/081/mbr/MBR.HTM Click on the name of the legislator for the email address. Sample Delegates' email: Dear Delegate ____ , Thank you for supporting Delegate Todd Gilbert's HB 936 for Rappahannock County to get a fair share of education funding. We ask for your support of the companion bill (identical to HB 936) from the Senate SB 559 when it crosses over to the House of Delegates, because (list your own reasons). Thank you, _______ Sample email to Senators: Dear Senator ____ , Thank you for supporting Senator Mark Obenshain's SB 559 for Rappahannock County to get a fair share of Education funding. We ask for your support of the companion bill (identical to SB 559) from the House of Delegates HB936 when it crosses over to the Senate, because (list your own reasons). Thank you, _______ Summary of General Assembly Action on Rapp's Fair Funding Bill : On Feb. 11 Senator Mark Obenshain moved that the bill be approved on second reading and be carried over without debate until Tuesday, Feb. 12 for final action. Rappahannock lobbyist (former Delegate) Pete Giesen, Supt. Bob Chappell, School Board member Rosa Crocker and RCES Principal Carol Johnson met briefly with Sen. Obenshain after the Senate session to discuss strategy. Individual members of the Rapp contingent also met individually with several key Senators to seek their support on the floor of the Senate on Feb. 12. The House of Delegates met Feb. 11 and had a full debate on the Rapp bill. Delegates Todd Gilbert, Steven Landes, Phillip Hamilton and Clarke Hogan all spoke eloquently and emphatically about Rappahannock having a unique situation that needs to be addressed by this bill. The good news is that both bills passed today! HB 936 passed in the House of Delegates by a vote of 70-29. Thank you to Delegate Todd Gilbert and the Delegates who supported this bill. SB 559 passed in the Senate by a vote of 23-15. Thank you to Senator Mark Obenshain and the Senators who supported this bill. What's next? The bills - which are now almost identical; thus will not be sent to conference committee- now "cross over" to the opposite chamber (SB 559 goes to House, HB 936 goes to Senate). If the General Assembly gives final approval the bills will then go to the Governor for approval. The two bills as amended limit the fiscal impact to approximately $250,000 and cannot be funded until July 1, 2010 at the earliest. Note: Supt. Bob Chappell and Assistant Supt. Becky Greer are holding meetings with Superintendents from neighboring counties in an effort to work out cost-savings agreements with one or more counties. These discussions began by telephone in November.
Rappahannock County Public Schools School Board Office - 6 Schoolhouse Road Washington , Virginia 22747 Telephone (540) 987-8773 FAX (540) 987-8896 Email: div078@pen.k12.va.us Website: http://www.rappahannockfairfunding.com/ Jan. 2, 2007 RCPS Facts 4U Funding Team Asks Rappahannock Citizens for Help: The Rappahannock County and School Funding Team needs your help. The Team ( members are: Ron Frazier, Roger Welch, Rosa Crocker, Wes Mills, John McCarthy and Bob Chappell) is asking our representatives in the General Assembly to change the school funding law.
· § 22.1-98.2 - "Certain agreements; adjustment of state share for basic aid" Amend the law to allow school divisions with 1,200 (law currently says "350") or fewer students to seek to participate in agreements with other school divisions for the purpose of saving money in return for obtaining a more favorable Local Composite Index (LCI), the State's school funding mechanism. If Rappahannock, which has an enrollment of 941, could be included in this law, we could seek to pay another county to provide certain services for us at lower costs. In return, we could get that county's Local Composite Index (LCI). Rappahannock could improve its State funding from roughly 20% (Rapp has a .80 LCI), for example, to 35% if we partnered with a county that has a .65 LCI. If the county-partner has a .45 LCI, we could be eligible for 55% State funding. That would mean a lot more State money and a lot less Rappahannock County tax money. · Cost of Competing Adjustment (COCA) - For several years, we've been trying to get COCA funding. This is the extra State money that all Northern Virginia localities plus Culpeper and Warren counties receive. COCA was started years ago to provide extra money to Northern Virginia counties and cities to help them compete in the high cost Washington metropolitan statistical area. County Administrator John McCarthy is working with Congressman Eric Cantor's office to try to get Rapp included in the DC statistical area. Delegate Todd Gilbert and Senator Mark Obenshain are presenting budget amendments to the Virginia General Assembly to get Rappahannock the COCA funding. COCA, if approved, would be phased in over several years.
Note: The Funding team, with County Administrator John McCarthy as chairman, is also trying to work with key legislators to get some of the conservation funding allocated to high "use value" localities as a "credit" for those localities. This What can you do? · Write, call or email Delegate Todd Gilbert and Senator Mark Obenshain to express your support for a) the amendment to 22.1-98.2 that would allow the RCPS to get more State money in exchange for working with other counties to save money; and b) The budget amendment for Rappahannock County to receive the Cost of Competing adjustment (COCA). These two gentlemen support our efforts, but they need to hear from you. You may wish to contact other State legislators.
Del. Todd Gilbert, < deltgilbert@house.state.va.us >, (804) 698-1015 (After Jan. 7) Sen. Mark Obenshain, < district26@sov.state.va.us >, (804) 698-7526 (After Jan. 7)
· Participate in a "Rapp Caravan to the General Assembly" in February; date TBA, to show strength in numbers at General Assembly Committee hearings to be held in Richmond. To participate in the caravan, Contact Bob Chappell at work 987-8773, home 987-8054, or at rchappell@rappahannock.k12.va.us or John McCarthy at jwmccarthy@rappahannockcountyva.gov if you want to join our Team's efforts to reduce the burden on local taxpayers.
Why should I help? In just three years, the State has gone from paying roughly 30% of the cost of a child's education to just 20% for next year. The change to 20% means a loss of thousands of dollars of State aid to our schools. Rappahannock citizens pay a greater share of the cost of education than our neighbors in Culpeper, Page, Fauquier and Madison, because of an unfair State Funding formula for schools. Help us ask the State to do its fair share of funding our schools!
Rappahannock County Public Schools School Board Office - 6 Schoolhouse Road Washington , Virginia 22747 Telephone (540) 987-8773 FAX (540) 987-8896 Email: div078@pen.k12.va.us Website: http://rappahannock.va.schoolwebpages.com/
Funding Team Reps Meet With Delegate Todd Gilbert : On Nov. 30, 2007, representatives of the Rappahannock County and School Funding Team met at the Café in the Town of Washington with Delegate Todd Gilbert. Superintendent Bob Chappell, BOS Chairman Bob Anderson, School Board members Rosa Crocker and Wes Mills presented a letter to Gilbert. In the letter, Chappell and County Administrator John McCarthy asked Gilbert and Senator Mark Obenshain, our two Virginia General Assembly reps, to sponsor an amendment to Virginia statute § 22.1-98.2 "Certain agreements; adjustment of state share for basic aid." Currently, the statute permits only those school divisions that have 350 or fewer students to seek to participate in agreements with other school divisions for the purpose of saving money in return for obtaining a more favorable Local Composite Index (LCI). Presently, Highland County is the only school division eligible with a September 30 Membership of 283. The Virginia Department of Education sets regulations and standards for these agreements. Agreements must also be approved by the Governor's office. Excerpts from the letter: Our request is that you consider an amendment that would increase the threshold for eligibility under this statute from 350 to 1,200 students so that more than one locality may benefit from the provisions of the statute. Superintendent Bob Chappell has held preliminary discussions with Division Superintendents of several other localities. They have expressed interest in talking further with Rappahannock about entering into cost-saving agreements. Any proposed agreement would require the approval of the School Boards. The Rappahannock County Public Schools are facing a real fiscal crisis. Our enrollment has declined at an average rate of 2% / year since 2004. The increase in the LCI for Rappahannock County from .7463 to .8000 for the 2008-2010 biennium will likely result in a reduction in State funding even if the ADM were to remain constant. (Note: an LCI of .8000 means that we will get roughly 20% of the cost of educating children from the State. If our LCI were .5500, we would get roughly 45% of the cost of educating children from the State.) If we receive less State aid in FY09, that would be the third consecutive year of reductions in State aid to the Rappahannock County Schools (two due to increases in the LCI, one due to a drop in ADM). Local taxpayers are bearing the brunt of making up for the lack of adequate State funding. There is no corporate tax base in Rappahannock. The "use value" taxation that helps to retain the rural nature of our community also results in some perceived disparities for local taxpayers, especially those on fixed incomes whose property often does not qualify for "use value." The bottom line is that we need the State's help. We appreciate your assistance in this matter.
Note: At a Board of Supervisor's meeting on Dec. 3, Chappell told the BOS: "When we propose budget increases to improve the services to Rappahannock children and parents, it's not our goal to increase taxes. If the State makes the change we are requesting to the law, we could realize - at the very least - hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional State revenues. It's time for the State to pay its fair share (to help reduce the burden on local taxpayers)."
Joint News Release from Rappahannock County Administrator John McCarthy and School Superintendent Bob Chappell. The Rappahannock County and School Funding Team held its first meeting on September 10, 2007. Members of the team are Roger Welch and Ron Frazier representing the Board of Supervisors, Rosa Crocker and Wes Mills representing the School Board, McCarthy who will serve as Chairman, and Chappell who will be the Secretary. The team's Mission: The Rappahannock County and School Funding team will work collaboratively with elected State and Federal representatives and selected citizens to increase State funding for Rappahannock County Government and the Rappahannock County Public Schools. The team will also make recommendations to the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors on ideas to relieve pressure on local property owners. Members of the team agreed to seek support for obtaining State Funding to fill the gap in funding not received due to the State's school funding formula which is based on the full "True Value" of county properties instead of the lower "use values." Across the state localities with lower property values are generally eligible for more state revenues on a per-pupil basis than those like Rappahannock that have high property values. The team also decided to seek more information from the State about Virginia statute § 22.1-98.2 "Certain agreements; adjustment of state share for basic aid." Specifically the team wants to know about the scope of agreements for shared services between two school divisions that would allow the division that has the higher composite index (lower per-pupil State aid) to obtain the lower composite index (higher per-pupil State aid) of the school division with whom the services are shared. Currently, the statute permits only those school divisions that have 350 or fewer students to seek to participate in agreements with other school divisions for the purpose of increasing State funding. A potential outcome would be for the team to ask the General Assembly to increase the threshold from 350 to perhaps 1,000 students to permit Rappahannock to seek a partnership with another school division. The team also discussed strategies for adding Rappahannock to the list of localities receiving the "Cost of Competing Adjustment" (COCA).The team is taking steps to determine how Rappahannock can be included in the DC-MD-VA-WV metropolitan statistical area (CSA). This statistical area that includes bordering counties Culpeper and Warren is the area the General Assembly uses to determine eligibility for COCA. The team decided to approach knowledgeable local citizens to help with this and other projects the team may explore. The team also discussed Ideas to relieve pressure on local property owners. The County feels that Rappahannock's location away from major thoroughfares makes it difficult to attract suitable businesses to the area. One idea that may become a team focus would be to try to get a university to locate a satellite campus in the county. This would not directly generate new tax revenue, but might have indirect economic benefits. The team agreed to meet again October 8. Note: Below is a link that contains Virginia's formula for school funding to determine the "Local Composite Index" (LCI). |
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