SCAC Minutes
January 11, 2005

Lynn Terhar opened the meeting and called on Superintendent Jack Dale for updates.

Dale noted that in that week both Governor Warner and President Bush were visiting FCPS schools. The President was to speak at Stuart High School the following day to describe his high school initiative.

He mentioned that the School Board was ready to approve a school calendar for 2005-06 at their meeting on Thursday. The state's revised policy for making up snow days has made it easier to devise a calendar this year.

At its work session the day before, the Board had asked for a reconsideration of one item in the South County boundary proposal, the assignment of the southern Hunt Valley community. The proposal before the Board had assigned this neighborhood to the Lake Braddock pyramid. The Board wanted to consider assigning it instead to the West Springfield pyramid. A public hearing on this is scheduled for January 25.

Terhar asked the student member of the council, Colleen Gallagher, to introduce herself, which she did.

Terhar called on Deirdra McLaughlin for a presentation on the proposed FY 2006 budget. McLaughlin distributed paper copies of a PowerPoint presentation. She said that the process for developing this proposed budget was different from that in previous years, with more stakeholder involvement, especially more involvement of the Board of Supervisors.

McLaughlin said that SCAC responses to a survey on budget priorities was fairly well aligned with the responses of the School Board, the Board of Supervisors, and the Leadership Team. She said that the School Board targets drive budget priorities.

Response in FCPS to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is similar to that a few years ago to the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests--initial anxiety followed by success--but the NCLB's adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals are moving targets that have increased over last year.

McLaughlin noted that student population growth has been flat this year, which reduces some of the need for budget growth, but the percentages of students requiring special education and English-for-speakers-of other-languages (ESOL) services and of students in poverty are growing faster. The local economy is good, but rapid increases in home values put pressure on the Board of Supervisors to reduce tax rates. The county government's revenue is up, possibly in the range of 15-20 percent.

Last spring, Fairfax County provided the School Board with a guideline of a 6.8 percent increase in the transfer. While the budget document in dudes a 9.7 percent increase, it also indicates what FCPS could do at the level of funding that would be provided with an increase between 6.8 percent and 9.7 percent.

Dick Reed asked if the 9.7 percent increase, is required to maintain the current level of quality or to increase the level. McLaughlin said it is required to maintain the current level, including keeping and attracting teachers of the quality to which FCPS has become accustomed.

Laura Floyd asked why reduction of class size is so low on the unfunded list. McLaughlin said that this is so expensive, even to reduce size by one student across the board, that it has been thought that other expenditures produce more results in raising student achievement.

Terhar said that what is needed is a cap on class size, not an across-the-board reduction. McLaughlin noted that there are caps on student:teacher ratios at all grade levels. Nell Hurley asked if there is a list of all classes with over 30 students. McLaughlin said there had been such a list for elementary schools.

Hurley asked if the number of special education centers was being reduced. Dale said it was.

Connie Lorentzen said she commends lowering class sizes where needed but pointed out that ratios are not identical with real class sizes.

Kenneth Kay said that, for bus drivers like him, a 2 percent market adjustment in pay is not much. He said larger increases were needed for long-term employees to keep them with FCPS. McLaughlin said that FCPS is studying bus drivers' salaries in an effort to determine how much increase is needed to keep drivers with FCPS. Lynn Dysart suggested retention bonuses.

Katie Lynch pointed out that students often come into schools after class sizes are set, making classes larger than they originally were. Jeanine Martin said her child has never been in a class with fewer than 25 students.

Hurley asked why the Board was considering sending southern Hunt Valley students to West Springfield when that school is overcrowded while Lake Braddock is not. She said it makes no sense to build new schools when some existing schools are under capacity.

Reed said the Board of Supervisors will ask why FCPS needs increases at double inflation when the student population is not growing.

Lorentzen said that school supporters need quick analyses of budget issues.

Angela [for Ann Rodriguez] said that she is concerned about the amount of the budget that goes to ESOL and said that SCAC needed to have a presentation on ESOL.

Reed noted that Montgomery County, Md., has a center for gifted and talented students who are also learning disabled and asked why FCPS did not also have this. Dale said that FCPS is studying this issue.