Employees are not getting a raise. Every employee of Chesterfield County Public Schools took a pay cut in 2010 – some by 2 percent and some by 3 percent. That cut began July 1, 2010, and remains in place today. Only people working for Chesterfield’s schools had their pay reduced. Employees of Chesterfield County government did not have their pay cut. Employees of surrounding school systems and localities did not have their pay cut.

The proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2012, restores that pay cut to 2010 levels but does not include a raise.

Actually, the opposite is true. Administrative costs take up less than 4 percent of the FY 2012 budget, and 68 percent of the budget is spent on instruction in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The school system’s administrative costs are lower than the state average for school systems and are significantly below the average administrative costs of a mid-size business, which run about 12 percent.

The capital improvement plan is similar to a family borrowing money to build a home and using that home to secure the loan. The school system’s capital improvement plan is the same. The school system sells bonds to build or renovate schools.

Major maintenance projects, such as air conditioning and heating, and technology account for about half of the school system’s capital improvement plan. Each year, Chesterfield County Public Schools pays about $45 million in debt service.

If Chesterfield County Public Schools did not have a capital improvement plan, then there would be no school renovations, no school additions, no HVAC repairs, no new or replacement technology, no new gyms, etc.

Teachers are paid from the school system’s operating budget, which comes from a different source than the capital improvement plan.

On nine days in the 2011-12 school year, Chesterfield County students will be dismissed three hours early. Also, school days now start a few minutes earlier and end a few minutes later than previous years. These strategic changes give teachers time for planning and professional development without taking instructional hours away from students. The end result is expected to be higher academic achievement for students.

This might make it too tempting to take an even longer weekend and not send students to school on Friday morning. Regular attendance is important for student achievement.

They are not. Students must live in Chesterfield County to attend Chesterfield County Public Schools. Please contact the school system’s Office of Pupil Placement (594-1707) if you have information about students who live outside the county but who are in Chesterfield classrooms.

Schools use a digital system to communicate via phone or email with parents. Calls can be directed to the entire school system, a school, a grade, a classroom, a bus, etc. Student achievement and family involvement increase when parents know what’s going on at their child’s school, and this digital system is an important method of communication.

Predicting the weather is not easy. Weather-related closings or delays are an operational judgment call, not a policy-based decision. Many factors play into a decision to close schools or open them late, but one factor is constant: The safety and well-being of students is at the forefront of every decision.

Whenever bad weather is predicted, the school system’s Transportation Department monitors road conditions throughout the county as well as weather reports for changes that could affect road conditions. Some buses are on the road as early as 5:40 a.m., so school employees begin monitoring conditions at 3-4 a.m. School employees also are in contact with the Chesterfield County police and the Virginia Department of Transportation for the latest information on road conditions in the county. As soon as a decision is made to close or delay school, information is posted online and sent to parents, school employees and media outlets

Chesterfield County is changing. About five years ago, 20 percent of our students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches. Now, 30 percent of our students qualify because their families are struggling economically. There are more students who need special education services, as well as more students who qualify for gifted education. Students enter schools with a wide variety of skill sets and knowledge, but schools must bring all students to the same level of academic proficiency

Yes. Virginia’s Standards of Quality require school boards to make sure that divisionwide ratios of students to full‐time equivalent teaching positions (excluding special education teachers, principals, assistant principals, counselors and librarians) are not greater than

• 24-1 in kindergarten with no class being larger than 29 students; if the average daily membership in any kindergarten class exceeds 24 pupils, a full‐time teacher’s aide is to be assigned to the class
• 24-1 in grades 1-3 with no class being larger than 30 students
• 25-1 in grades 4-6 with no class being larger than 35 students
• 24-1 in English classes in grades 6-12

Also, school boards are to assign instructional personnel in a manner that produces schoolwide ratios of students to full‐time equivalent teaching positions of 21-1 in middle schools and high schools.

Virginia regulations governing special education programs state that school boards are to set pupil-teacher ratios for pupils with mental retardation that do not exceed pupil-teacher ratios for self‐contained classes for pupils with specific learning disabilities.