The Madison County School Board draft budget is one that focuses on its employees with little to no extras, yet it requests an additional $1.3 million in new local funding.
The budget is being driven by a longtime issue–a decrease in students. For the past 18 years, the division has slowly lost students, from 1,921 enrolled during the 2007-2008 school year to just 1,542 enrolled in the current year. Currently, 128 seniors will graduate while only 99 students are enrolled in kindergarten. With state funding based on the number of students, less enrollment means less dollars.
“We were addressing the [decline] several years ago and then COVID-19 hit with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) [federal] funding and then there was the All in Virginia funding putting a bandaid on it,” superintendent Anna Graham said. “We had previously cut positions and moved things around, but this is a problem that has been happening.”
Graham said according to Weldon Cooper Center data, Madison hasn’t been growing and isn’t projected to grow much either, maybe 145 people by 2030. Plus, its an older county with the median age being 46.
“The school division and county need to prepare to sustain the division and what we have,” Graham said. “The more we keep cutting, the less things we can do that are outside the box for the kids.”
Aside from not increasing in population, Madison County is also small, something that hinders it in terms of education funding. In 2023, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) studied how the Standards of Quality (SOQs) could be improved. The SOQs are how the General Assembly fulfills its obligation to establish and maintain high-quality public school systems. The funding formula estimates the number of positions needed for each school division and then applies cost assumptions to estimate the costs of staff needed. It’s then apportioned between the state and local government using the Local Composite Index.
The local composite index formula determines a locality’s ability to pay education costs and is calculated based on three indicators—true value of property (weighted 50 percent), adjusted gross income (weighted 40 percent) and taxable retail sales (weighted 10 percent). The local composite index for Madison is .4746 so for $1 of expenditures, Madison pays $.47 and the state pays $.53.
The JLARC study found that the SOQ formula yields far less funding than what divisions are actually spending with the vast majority of additional funding for schools coming from the local government. Benchmark models determined the state should provide 66 to 93 percent more funding than the SOQ formula’s calculations and the formula significantly underestimates division compensation costs. Plus, it’s still using a funding cap for support positions that was placed in 2009. Other findings include the formula not taking into account higher need students and not adequately accounting for labor costs.
One conclusion affects divisions like Madison County due to its size. The JLARC study found that the SOQ funding formula doesn’t account for the higher costs per student that occur due to economies of scale. Research states that divisions achieve most of their efficiency gains with at least 2,000 students. No additional funding is provided in the formula for smaller divisions.
“We have to run a small school division like the larger ones,” Graham said. “We have to pay the same maintenance costs [and] administrative costs.”
Seeing the issues with the state’s funding formula, JLARC made recommendations to the Joint Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education with legislators introducing bills and budget amendments to help localities with K-12 funding. Currently, both the House and Senate budgets remove the 2009 support cap, something the Virginia Education Association (VEA) has been fighting for over the years. There is also a measure to fund one-time $1,000 bonuses for SOQ funded instructional and support staff with no local match required.
“Both the House and the Senate have demonstrated a clear commitment to public education by allocating more than $400 million above what the Governor proposed in direct aid,” VEA President Carol Bauer said. “The VEA applauds lawmakers for finally lifting the harmful support cap, which was imposed more than 15 years ago and limited state funding for critical school support staff. We also commend them for taking a key step toward more adequate funding for our special education students through a new state add-on.”
Even with those measures moving through the General Assembly, the funding issues in Madison won’t be solved. The draft budget is built on 1,520 students, 1,000 less than the current year resulting in less state funding. The change amounts to an approximately $370,000 decrease in basic aid. The budget includes a 3% raise for all staff (partially offset by a 3% salary increase in the governor’s budget) and pay adjustments for teachers at five and 10 years while also increasing bus driver pay to a starting rate of $20 per hour for CDL drivers and adjusting the driver pay scale by 50-cents for each year of experience capping at $41.50 per hour. Also included are absorbing any health insurance rate increases, estimated at 10%, and key technology needs including a new website, camera licenses and wifi controllers. The draft budget also includes increases in operating expenses–utilities, special education services, grounds maintenance and custodial supplies. A list of priorities from the schools, including positions currently covered under state funding that ends this year, are not included.
“The high-priority needs list, none of that is in here,” director of finance Tina Cropp said. “That wasn’t a wants list. This is our fourth revision, we’ve trimmed this many times. We’re watching every role. Nothing is an automatic fill.”
“We know everyone does a great job,” Graham added. “We’re trying to make the budget work.”
Several items are included in the capital improvement area of the budget including a window replacement, bleachers in the Wetsel gym, replacing failing audiovisual equipment at the high school, replacing exterior doors, HVAC and electrical work, a facilities truck and two school buses.
The draft budget is currently balanced using $2.69 million in state sales tax revenue, $9.62 million in state funds and $946,000 in federal funds. It requests $11.6 million in local funding, approximately $1.3 million more than the current year. Should the JLARC recommendations prevail through the state budget process, state funding will see a small increase.
The school board will meet with the board of supervisors to discuss the budget next week.
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