Fayette County Public Schools FY 2017 Budget Q&A (Updated 6/21/2016)

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1 Fayette County Public Schools FY 2017 Budget Q&A (Updated 6/21/2016) We have received some questions from the public on certain aspects of the budget. Below are responses to the common questions. Q: With recent declining enrollment why is the 2017 budget increasing by $8.8 million? How much of the increase is teaching positions? Is teacher pay being increased? A: The estimate of students is based on the student population that is currently enrolled. The estimate assumes no growth in enrollment based on the last two years. The Board has placed an emphasis on reducing class size where possible. To reduce class sizes (overall on average), we are adding 8.6 teaching positions at the high school level, 6.6 at the middle school level, and 11.5 at the elementary level. These teaching positions will cost approximately $2.1 million with benefits. We are having to shift the funding for 25 parapro positions ($475,000) that were previously federally funded. Sufficient federal funds are no longer available to cover the positions needed to meet maximum class size requirements. Also, because of the size of certain schools, we are adding a half time counselor position and one high school assistant principal. Since the focus is on reducing class size, we will have 7 additional kindergarten classes which means 7 additional kindergarten parapros required by the state ($175,000). Other certified positions at the school level include 6.3 positions for RTI and ELL. RTI (Response to Intervention) staff support teachers in implementing specific strategies to improve student achievement. ELL (English Language Learners) staff support students who do not speak English as their first language. All total, at the school level the budget additions are $3.4 million in staffing. The budget also includes $4.1 million for a cost of living increase for all employee groups. Teachers and staff are getting a 3% increase. In addition, the health insurance cost for classified employees is increasing $100/month per employee for $660,000. Other position reclassifications included moving LEC clerical staff to 8.0 hours per day which is about $91,000. The 8 hour per day issue was recommended due to the fact that some positions in the LEC staff were 8 hours per day and some were 7.5 hours per day. The change was recommended for consistency of office operations and to ensure equity. Overall, these personnel related additions add up to $8.97 million which is less than the net increase in the total budget. We worked to reduce some of the operational costs to minimize the increase in the overall budget. Q: How many additional staff have been added to the County Office in the last three years after the previous large staff reductions? 1

2 A: Based on information presented for budget adoption: FY Closed four schools and increased class size resulting in reducing school-based positions by 269 and central office positions by FY2015 Increase school-based positions by 45 and central office positions by 1. FY2016 Increase school-based positions by 106 and central office positions by 8. FY2017 Increase school-based positions by 42 (net) and central office positions by 11. (General fund personnel increased 67 school based positions by shifting funding of 25 parapro positions from federal grants to the general fund). The requested positions are needed in order to support the increased demand of teacher evaluation implementation, compliance requirements, accounting, reporting, etc. Q: How much money is being set aside for overtime for support staff at the schools? A: The budget includes $115,000 for overtime and miscellaneous pay for support staff across the entire district. The district mainly uses compensatory time as a means to compensate for additional hours worked. Q: The state is adding new reports required by school systems. Who is responsible for completing those reports? Is this all being done at the County Office? A: The staff assigned to complete state reporting depends on which specific reports and the area covered. State reporting includes instruction data, testing data, assessment, guidance and advisement, student information, special education data, financial reports, athletics, employee information, teacher certification, school nutrition, grant reporting and other areas. Most state reporting is done by or through the Central Office. Most of the school level data is generated at the school initially and then consolidated at the district level by Central Office staff. In addition, many of these areas have a federal reporting requirement in the same areas and some new requirements such as information for the Affordable Healthcare Act. Q: You are adding two instructional support teachers at 80,000? What will they do, how do they support teachers? A: We currently have instructional support teachers (IST s) in the areas of language arts and math. It is important to add positions in the areas of science and social studies as well. The science and social studies instructional content coaches (ICC S) will work with teachers to implement the curriculum standards effectively. This includes, but is not limited to, developing a common framework; understanding the language of the curriculum standards; developing performance tasks that reflect higher order thinking skills; developing classroom activities that are experiential, hands-on, and inquiry 2

3 based; analyzing student work; planning for differentiated instruction; implementing best practice strategies; developing common assessments and teacher/student rubrics. Basically, the science and social studies instructional content coaches will support teachers and help them implement the newly adopted curriculum with excellence across the district. This is particularly critical in light of the fact that the state, in consultation with teachers and content specialists statewide, recently made significant revisions to our Social Studies and Science curriculum. The $80,000 includes salary and benefits. Q: The budget adds an Exceptional Children Services bookkeeper at $45,000? Does this position require a CPA degree? A: The position does not require a CPA. The amount includes salary at about $29,000, FICA (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), retirement (14.27%), health insurance ($8,900), and worker s compensation coverage. This position will handle the bookkeeping for the Exceptional Children s Services area. The current staffing is inadequate to handle the local and federal grant bookkeeping and clerical work for the department. Q: The budget adds a Facilities Technician for $63,000. Is this located at the Central Office? A: All of the facilities staff is centrally located and used to maintain all facilities district wide depending on the work orders received from the schools and projects in progress. The largest part of this employee s day takes place in individual school buildings. Q: The budget adds an Instructional Technology Specialist for $88,000. Why is this position needed? A: As already mentioned, the amount includes salary, FICA, Medicare, retirement, health insurance ($11,340), and worker s compensation coverage. The Instructional Technology Specialist will work with teachers throughout the district. He/she will lead and facilitate professional learning related to the innovative and effective use of instructional technology in the classroom. In addition, this person will assist in the preview and recommendation of technology tools and software programs that are used in our district. He/she is expected to be knowledgeable as to the current products and developments in the field of instructional technology and skilled in training and assistance to teachers. Q: The budget adds a Finance/ Purchasing Bookkeeper for $45,000. Is this a duplication of the other bookkeeper position and can one person do both jobs? A: This is not a duplication of the position above. Over several years, the finance/purchasing staff was reduced by three positions while the volume of work has significantly increased. The purchasing and auditing functions were combined under one coordinator. This has created a separation of duties conflict since a large part of 3

4 the audit work deals with purchasing procedures. In addition, there is insufficient staff for the coordinator to perform field audits of school level activity accounts. This position will allow us to reassign responsibilities to segregate those duties appropriately. Q: The budget adds a psychologist at $90,000. Why does the school system need full time psychologist? A: The school psychologist will be assigned to work with schools throughout the district. He/she will assist school administrators, teachers, and parents to make decisions regarding a child s placement in or dismissal from an Exceptional Education program. He/she will conduct individual psychological evaluations of children referred by the school s Student Support Team and will attend Placement Committee meetings of individual students as needed. In addition, he/she will work as a member of the total instructional staff as a resource to parents, principals, teachers and the community in areas of child growth and development, testing, counseling, and guidance. This year our school psychologists completed 634 cases; however, 230 were still pending at the end of the school year. Many of those cases must be completed within a specific deadline. An additional school psychologist is necessary to handle the number of cases that are referred for psychological evaluations. Q: The budget adds a social worker at $85,000. Why does the school system need a social worker? How many years experience do you need for this? A: The amount includes salary, FICA, Medicare, retirement, health insurance ($11,340), and worker s compensation coverage. The requirement for this position is a master s degree in social work. Preferred qualifications include experience in both education and treatment environments and three years experience in social work. The social worker will serve as a liaison between home and school when considerable follow-up is necessary pertaining to difficulties the child is experiencing in the school setting. He/she will coordinate closely with administrators, guidance counselors and other personnel concerning families who have been referred for social work intervention. In addition, the social worker will provide families with information about available community resources. Q: The budget adds a Technician Support Specialist at $62,000. Why is this position needed? A: We have increased the number of technology devices in the classroom for both students and teachers. The maintenance and support of the increase in technology requires support of additional resources. This position will be supervised at the county level but will be assigned specific schools for support each day. The majority of the technical support specialist s time is spent in schools supporting teachers and the school staff. 4

5 Q: The budget adds a Bus Shop Technician at $55,000. Why is this position needed? A: The current technician ratio to buses is 37 buses per technician. The state requires inspection of each bus every 20 road days. The purpose of such an inspection schedule is to ensure a well maintained bus fleet for the safe transportation of students. The standard technician ratio is less than 30 buses per technician, and most shops are under 25 to 1. This does not include the non-bus vehicles that must also be maintained as well. The amount includes salary and benefits Q: The budget adds a Transportation Bookkeeper at $45,000. Why does the school system need a bookkeeper for each department? A: Each department is responsible for entering employee time, entering requisitions and monitoring the department budget. The bookkeeper as well as the receptionist position was eliminated during the budget reductions several years ago. The duties of the bookkeeper are currently being completed by a supervisor or bus drivers between routes. This does not allow the supervisor to properly manage the bus maintenance staff or provide for the necessary monitoring of the department budget. This position combines the duties performed in the two positions previously eliminated. 5