An Open Letter to RCEA Members

February 18, 2007

An Open Letter to RCEA Members

The Assistant Superintendent for Finance recently showed me an email where I was reportedly promoting the idea that the County would receive $11.9 million in new money from the state if all goes according to plan in the General Assembly this year. If I claimed that, I was in error, and I apologize.

In early January, VEA produced a projection where it took into account various sources of new money for the local budget and came up with the figure of $10.9 million in new state money. At the same time, Penny Hodge projected $8.9 million in new money. In the past, VEA’s projections, according to Pat Wood our Uniserv Director, have been very accurate. Then again, so have Penny’s projections.

I can’t, at this point determine why there is such a discrepancy between the projections; however, I suspect the answer lies in the numbers used for the Average Daily Membership (ADM). As you may know, the state pays localities based on the number of days that each student attends school. A conservative guess would yield a smaller amount and a less conservative guess would yield a larger amount. Whether that is the case or not, I cannot determine at this point.

Of course, any discussion of new money is really quite premature until the General Assembly decides how it is going to handle the state’s financial crisis. Right now, things are looking less and less positive. You can follow their progress by visiting the VEA’s Daily General Assembly Report. (http://www.veaweteach.org/legislative_ga_reports.asp)

Again, I apologize if any of my comments at any time have confused the issue.

Thom