Operating Budget → Question and Answer Archive

Budget Question and Answer Archive

Q1

Respond to the testimony from the Korean Parents Association regarding the elimination of funding for Korean translation services. Provide information on how positions and other resources are used to provide translation services. Are the resources sufficient considering the growing need for translations in Amharic? What is the cost to restore the position that was eliminated in the budget?

Q2

Respond to testimony regarding the proposed change in the work schedule (from 12-month to 10-month) for College and Career Information Coordinators.

Q3

Respond to testimony alleging that a significant amount of food is wasted in school cafeterias. How much food is discarded? What happens to food that has been prepared when schools close as a result of weather emergencies?

Q4

Provide information about how counselor positions are budgeted and allocated to schools.

Q5

Respond to concerns raised about the ability of the Blair High School registrar position to manage the required workload. What other resources are available at the school to support the registrar? Should additional resources be added considering that Blair High School has 24 feeder middle schools, a high mobility rate, and many students that are from families that have never been involved in the college application process? Provide an update of the information provided last year at this time (Question/Answer 49) regarding the workload associated with transcripts and college applications. Provide a chart showing the number and types of support positions for each high school.

Q6

Should MCPS develop a staffing formula for elementary counselors that considers the needs of students considering that MCPS elementary students face problems that students did not have to face ten years ago?

Q7

Testimony from the founder of the Robotics Club at Kennedy High School indicated that it has been difficult to retain teacher sponsors. How are stipends allocated to teachers to support high school extracurricular activities?

Q8

What is the bilingual capability of front-office staff in our high schools? How are we working to hire bilingual staff to meet the needs of the school community?

Q9

How many parent community coordinator positions are budgeted, and what schools do they serve?

Q10

Provide achievement data for middle schools that have an 8-period day compared to those that do not. Update the information provided last year that detailed the cost of restoring the 8-period day at all middle schools?

Q11

The superintendent’s recommended FY 2015 Operating Budget adds 5.0 positions to the Office of Community Engagement and Partnerships at a cost of $532,230. Please provide specific details about the nature of these positions, including whether they will be school-based or central office positions and the plan for using these positions.

Q12

Provide specific details of the plan for the $3 million requested to acquire mobile devices for classrooms to expand the use of technology for teaching and learning as well as use for PARCC assessments. Are these costs for hardware only? Will there be software and maintenance costs for these devices? How will software be acquired and evaluated? What is the training plan for employees? Are mobile devices the optimal device to use for assessments as compared to desktops or laptops?

Q13

Please indicate specifically how the superintendent’s budget addresses each of the Board’s budget priorities?

Q14

For each of our middle schools, how much additional staffing or resources beyond base levels does each receive due to special programs, such as IB, language immersion, magnet, consortium, middle school reform, etc.? Please also list all middle schools that receive no additional resources beyond base funding.

Q15

Please explain why a .5 evaluation specialist must be added to the Office of Shared Accountability to conduct a study of the Kennedy Cluster Project as opposed to having this study performed with existing staffing?

Q16

Please explain why 5.3 academic intervention teachers were realigned from the middle school budget to the elementary school budget in the current FY 2014 budget, which continues into the proposed budget?

Q17

Reading support teachers were cut in prior year budgets. How are these positions used? Was any consideration given to restoring any of these positions?

Q18

The proposed budget projects an enrollment increase of 2,721 students and includes 75 positions to increase individualized services for special education services. In the current budget, there was a projected student enrollment increase of 2,336 students and included 95 positions to serve special education students. Please explain why the proposed special education staffing increase is less than last year’s proposal when the enrollment projection is greater.

Q19

What is the impact on the proposed budget due to the closure of the charter school?

Q20

If the proposed state disciplinary regulations are adopted as currently proposed, will there need to be additional funding to provide services to suspended students?

Table Of Contents(TOC)

A
Academic Intervention Teachers - Realignment from Middle to Elementary Schools 16
Additional Funding for State Disciplinary Regulations 20
B
Bilingual Capability - High School Front Offices 8
Blair High School Registrar Position 5
Board of Education Priorities Addressed in the Superintendent's FY 2015 Budget 13
C
Cafeteria Food Waste 3
Career Information Coordinatiors Work Schedule 2
Closure of Charter School - Impact on Budget 19
Counselors - Budget and Allocations 4
E
Elementary Counselors - Staffing 6
Extracurricular Activity Stipends 7
K
Kennedy Cluster Inititative - .5 Evaluation Specialist Position 15
Korean Parents Association - Translations 1
M
Middle Schools - Additional Staffing Beyond Base Levels 14
Middle Schools with 8-Period Day - Achievement Data & Cost to Restore 10
O
Office of Community Engagement and Partnerships Positions 11
P
Parent Community Coordinator Positions 9
R
Reading Teacher Reductions from Prior Years 17
Registrar Position at Blair High School 5
S
School Staffing - Flexibility 21
Special Education Growth and Positions Budgeted 18
Staffing Formula for Counselors 6
State Disciplinary Regulations - Need for Additional Funding 20
Stipends for Extracurricular Activities 7
T
Technology Devices for Teaching and Learning, PARCC Assessments 12
Translation Services in Korean 1