Presentation to Barton Community Forum February 10 2016 Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46 High expectations for schools to meet the needs of todays students Education Quality Standards Universal PreK Act 77 ID: 539333
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Slide1
Orleans Central Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee Report
Presentation to
Barton Community Forum
February
10
,
2016Slide2
Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46
High expectations for schools to meet the needs of today’s students – Education Quality Standards, Universal Pre-K, Act 77
Increasing poverty and addiction rates
Growing inequity in student opportunity and outcomes
High leadership turnover
Fiscal challengesSlide3
Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46
Fiscal Challenges in VT in a Nutshell
:
Declining Enrollments
+
Increasing Costs
=
Higher Per Pupil Costs
Higher property tax burdensSlide4
Challenges Facing Vermont Schools Leading to Passage of Act 46
Governance
: Vermont arguably has the most complicated governance structure in the United States:
Vermont has 362 school districts for 94,000 students as compared to…
Maine, which has 164 districts for 185,000 students or…
Maryland, which has 24 school districts for 866,000 studentsSlide5
Act 46: Creating PreK-12 Systems
On or before July 1, 2019 educational opportunities in Vermont shall be provided through “
sustainable governance structures”
that provide PreK-12 educational opportunities at a reasonable cost.Slide6
Act 46: Creating PreK-12 Systems
These governance structures are expected to achieve the following outcomes:
Provide
equity
in the quality and variety of educational opportunities
Lead students to
meet or exceed the Education Quality Standards
Maximize operational efficiencies
through greater flexibility to manage, share, and transfer resources, with a goal of increasing district-level student-to-staff ratios
Promote
transparency and accountability Slide7
Act 46:
Preferred Governance Structure
A single PreK-12 district
Serving at least 900 students
That has one of the four most common structures:
Operates all grades PreK-12;
Operates PreK-8 and tuitions 9-12;
Operates PreK-6 and tuitions 7-12; or
Pays tuition for all students grades PreK-12.Slide8
Act 46: Getting to a
Preferred Governance Structure
Act 46 Includes incentives
if Action
IS
Taken
Grants to fund studies like the one are doing now
Tax relief for districts who adopt new governance models early
$150,000 Transition
grants for districts who adopt new governance models
early
Limits on tax
increases for districts who adopt new governance models
early
Conversion of small school grants to “merger support grants”
AND
dis
incentives
If Action
ISN’T
Taken
Imposition of preferred structure
Disappearance of small school grantsSlide9
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
Orleans Central Supervisory Union (OCSU) secured a $20,000 study grant to form an Act 46 Implementation Study Committee
The OCSU Board appointed 14 individuals to the Study
C
ommittee, which had at least one representative from each board
The study committee met 12 times in October through February and voted to adopt a final draft of a report of their findings
This afternoon we are seeking YOUR input on this report before we adopt the final report on March 2Slide10
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
Adopt Unified Union Governance Structure
WHY? Three Major Reasons
We have a 50-year history of successful collaboration and shared governance at SU level, and at HS level
A unified union governance model will offer
ALL
students more learning opportunities
A unified union model will provide opportunities to save money, assure OCSU communities receive Act 46 incentives, and avoid the impact of losing small schools grantsSlide11
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
We have a 50-year history of successful collaboration and shared governance at SU level, and at HS level
Orleans Central Supervisory Union
has common pay schedules, common calendars, common special education services, and operates a prekindergarten program for
all
students
…
and these initiatives were put in place
without undercutting local control.
Lake Region Union High School
, which is governed by a regional board, provides a high quality program to ALL students in the district.
LRUHS is recognized by US News and World Report as one of VT’s best! Slide12
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
A unified union
governance model
will offer
ALL
students more learning
opportunities
Our K-8 Districts do not provide comparable learning opportunities or support services (
the next few slides offer some examples
)
Sharing staff will enable OCSU K-8 schools to offer more specialized instruction (
e.g. accelerated math and science programs; reading and math intervention; technology support)
The unified union governance model provides an opportunity for K-8 choice and an opportunity to reconfigure schools to optimize staffing and saving money without closing schoolsSlide13
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
Language
Arts
Math
Science
Social
Studies
Humanities
Albany
375
415
240
***
350
Barton
480
480
240
240
0
Brownington
***
450
250
***
600Glover470225225225225Irasburg***435435***435Orleans3153153153150
Minutes/Week/Subject Grades 6-8
*** Reading instruction and/or social studies embedded in humanitiesSlide14
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
Algebra instruction varies from school-to-school
All OCSU K-8 schools have copies of
LRUHS
algebra curriculum
ALL OCSU students can earn an Algebra I credit at LRHS by getting a 75 or higher on the mid-term and final examinations developed by the
LRUHS
math department
Some Barton, Glover and Irasburg students physically attend courses at
LRUHS
Orleans students take an additional 120 minutes of math/week to prepare for the
LRUHS
examinations, receive algebra instruction
Albany and Brownington students get additional help from 8
th
grade instructors to prepare for
LRUHS
examinationsSlide15
Findings: OCSU Study CommitteeSlide16
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
Guidance
Nurse
Librarian
Reading Intervention
Math Intervention
Albany
203
405
203
90
***
Barton
268
161
403
161
161
Brownington
540*
180
NONE
108
108
Glover
305153305122NONEIrasburg338135***135482Orleans103206***206206
Students Per Support Staff
* Above state minimum requirement of 350:1
*** Services provided by non-certified staff memberSlide17
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
FY
16 Tech
Budget
Tech
$/
Student
Current
Tech Value
Tech
Value/ Student
Devices/Student
Albany
$29,095
$2,425
$26,500
$1,943
1.28
Barton
$27,747
$1,722
$30,205
$2,298
.64
Brownington$5,500$444$17,635$1,527.49Glover$20,000$1,667$24,183$1,642.93Irasburg$25,247$2,078$24,139$1,734.81Orleans$40,000$5,714$27,548
$2,2601.06
Technology Budgets, AvailabilitySlide18
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
A unified union model will increase the opportunities to save money, provide tax reduction incentives, and avoid the impact of losing small schools grants
Bulk Purchasing opportunities (
e.g. food services, technology, heating oil, cleaning materials, etc.)
Administrative overlaps (
moving from nine budgets to one reduces audit costs, staff time)
Sharing staff and resources among schoolsSlide19
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
A unified union model will provide tax reduction incentives:
The
table
on the right
shows
the amount the owner of a $200,000 home is projected to save over five years if OCSU changed its governance structure assuming an annual 3% increase in education spending an a 1% decrease in equalized pupils based on calculations provided by the State
District
5
Year Savings to Homeowner
Albany
$3,766
Barton
$569
Brownington
$439
Glover
$2,357
Irasburg
-$73
Orleans
$1,938
Westmore
$442Slide20
Findings: OCSU Study Committee
A unified union model will
avoid
the impact of losing small schools
grants:
The
table
on the right
shows
the amount each of the districts currently receives for small school grants. If OCSU does not change its governance structure before January 2019 these grants will no longer be available
District
FY
16
Small Schools Grant
Albany
$112,758
Brownington
$105,043
Glover
$94,078
Irasburg
$82,948
Orleans
$108,355Slide21
What Will Change in OCSU?
Current Status
Contracts
: Employees covered by OCSU negotiated agreements
Budgets
: 9 budgets developed, adopted, voted on individually; budgets voted on in town meeting format; each board oversees budget.
Boards
: 9 Boards, 32 members
Unified Union
Contracts:
New Board will negotiate with employee groups within 90 days
Budget
: One budget; voted on by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day; budget oversight determined by board policy
Board
: One Board with
17
members; representation based on 2010 censusSlide22
What Will Change in OCSU?
Current Status
Facilities
: Each district owns and is responsible for school buildings and grounds; each is responsible for maintenance and custodial services
Personnel management
:
8
separate Boards hire
all
staff members for their district
Curriculum oversight
: 7 boards responsible for assuring schools meet the Vermont Quality Standards.
Unified Union
Facilities:
New district owns and is responsible for school buildings and grounds; it
is responsible for maintenance and custodial
services
Personnel Management
: One Board hires
all
staff for
all
schools
Curriculum Oversight
: One board accountable for meeting Vermont Quality Standards. Slide23
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Late February:
OCSU Act 46 Study Committee holds public forums in each town gathering feedback on DRAFT report; legal review of report
March 2:
Following this round of public forums and legal review, OCSU Act 46 Study Committee adopts FINAL Report, including Articles of Agreement, submits report to Agency of Education for review in advance of submission to State Board of Education
April 19:
State Board of Education (SBE) reviews, acts on report, including the Articles of AgreementSlide24
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
ASSUMING State Board approval in April
: Another round of public forums/hearings to inform public of governance vote on May 24
May 24
:
T
he proposal to adopt the Articles of Agreement goes to voters in each OCSU town along with a slate of candidates to serve on the Unified Union Board. The vote will be done by Australian ballot. ALL towns must vote to adopt the Articles of Agreement.
Late May
: If the electorate of each member district votes in favor of the proposal
, the Town clerks will notify the Agency of Education of the vote tallies in their community
Late June, early July:
30-45 days after the vote, the Agency of Education certifies the vote to the Secretary of State who, in turn, informs the town clerks of the formation of the new unified union board Slide25
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Late August:
Within 60 days of the certification of the vote to the Secretary of State, the Agency of Education will convene an organizational meeting
Following Organizational Meeting:
Newly elected Board begin transition to controlling operation of all existing OCSU schools.
T
he new board will:
negotiate contracts to go into effect after July 2017
develop new policies
develop a budget for 2017-2018 to be voted on by Australian ballot on Town Meeting Day, March 7, 2017.
July 1, 2017:
The unified union school district will be fully operational and the district boards elected for 2016-17 will no longer be in place
. Slide26
QUESTIONS
???
Please submit additional questions and look for additional information on the OCSU web page:
www.ocsu.org