VASBO Annual School Report Questionnaire
Topic / Question/Comment / VDOE Response1. Admin/Attend/Health / Function 62000, Admin/Attendance/Health: Speech should be removed the header for 62240. Speech services should be reported in 61100, Special Ed. This may be confusing for many. / Function 62240 should be used for non-instructional activities that “identify, assess, and treat children with speech, hearing, and language impairments. Audiologists should be reported here. (Speech Language Pathologists and those providing this service should be reported under instruction in Function 61100)”. (Acct. code structure pg. 8)
2. ASR / ASR - Why are there automatic errors when there is a supplement entered but no salary? In many instances, the personnel's full time responsibility is not in the same area/classification as the supplement. It adds time to the completion process to have to submit these back to the DOE for correction. / The error message “Please Correct Your Reported Personal Services Expenses” appears on Object 1620 (Supplemental Salaries/Wages), and “Please correct your reported FICA benefits” on Object 2100 (FICA) to remind the user to enter all associated costs to a supplemental salary. FICA is required for all salary and wage expenditures; therefore once FICA has been entered this message disappears. In most cases there should be base salary associated with supplemental salaries reported. We are aware of a few prevalent exceptions to this rule and have tried to program around them; for instance, this error is relaxed in program 5 and for Homebound (Function 61230). However, in order to ensure that school divisions meet the instructional standards set forth in Standard 2 of the Standards of Quality (Code of Virginia), we are unable to remove the error completely. If you can provide additional detail on the positions you are referring to, we can evaluate the situation and determine whether a global change is appropriate.
3. ASR / ASR worksheet for 2014: When you select the option to shade the cells for "SOQ Instructional and Support Expenditures the following fringes are highlighted: Disability Insurance Hybrid, Unemployment Insurance, and Worker’s Compensation. Other benefits such as FICA, VRS, Hospital/Medical Insurance, Group Life and RHCC are not shaded. Why? / FICA, VRS, Hospital/Medical Plans, Group Life and Retiree Health Care Credit are part of the total compensation for employees and are SOQ recognized expenditures. They are shaded in dotted purple in the ASRFIN template because they are pro-rated between multiple categories. VDOE will look into a more visible pattern/shading for the FY 2015 ASRFIN that also ensures the data is legible when printed in black and white.
4. ASR / ASR: Superintendent’s Memo – Although we appreciate receiving the memo with changes to the ASR from the prior year. Why aren’t we made aware of new schedules or worksheets at the same time? This will allow us time to ask questions and prepare the data for reporting in a timely fashion. / DOE makes changes to the ASRFIN based on General Assembly mandates or at the request of the Governor, the Board of Education, USED, or school divisions to assist with their reporting. VDOE makes every effort to notify school divisions of expected major changes to the ASRFIN template in advance, in order to allow divisions time to prepare. For instance, the anticipated major updates to the FY 2014 ASRFIN (addition of Schedules N & O and new Object Codes) were posted in a Superintendent’s Memorandum in January, 2014. All updates both major and minor, are summarized in Attachment A to the ASRFIN Superintendent’s Memorandum, usually posted in July.
5. ASR / Can the Cut and Paste functions be made to work within the ASR? They are Excel spreadsheets after all and that functionality is a major component to any numbers-driven template. / Cutting/copying and pasting information in any Excel file, not just the ASRFIN, may break links and/or cause issues with the functionality of the coding used to compile data. Due to the critical nature of the data being reported and the significant investment of school division time necessary to complete the template, it is in divisions’ best interest to be wary of pasting data. Please note that you may paste data as long as you use the Paste Special – Values option in Excel.
6. ASR / Can you provide the formulas and cost accounting so that we can better understand how the data and funding reimbursement is calculated? / Data used for reimbursements is provided by each division either through the ASRFIN or from other data collections submitted throughout the year. Reimbursement calculations are based on ADM, per pupil amounts, program participation, or other inputs depending on the program. The last 2 sheets in the Calculation Template, “Account Funding Matrix” and “Account Funding Explanations,” detail data sources and program descriptions, as well as formulas used for Direct Aid funding. If you have questions on how specific program payments are calculated, please contact the Budget Office.
7. ASR / The ASR has grown to 52 individual worksheets. Has any thought been given to replacing the Excel workbook with a robust web-based system? / The Excel workbook utilizes extensive macros and VBA coding to capture and provide the data that is required by State and Federal policy makers. VDOE budget staff is in the process of working on alternatives with our IT department; however, due to the massive amount of data and the complexity of the reporting and calculations that are involved this will take a significant amount of time and resources. We will continue these efforts.
8. ASR / Our division has not been able to provide meaningful raises to employees. Instead, our Board has provided 2 bonuses in the past 4 years. However, this practice penalizes our school division because bonus payments are not counted toward instructional spending. Why can't this be changed? / Employee bonuses are “one-time payments or compensation provided to instructional and support personnel in addition to the employees’ usual compensation”. (Acct. code structure pg. 21) Because these are considered temporary and not regular ongoing expenses, they are not recognized in the SOQ funding model and therefore are not considered instructional expenditures.
9. ASR / Bus Routing software. Should this charged to transportation or technology? / Bus routing software should be reported in Technology-Pupil Transportation (Function 68500): “…technology-related expenditures that directly support activities concerned with transporting students to and from school.” (Acct. Code Structure pg. 12)
10. Calc Tool / Can VDOE add a worksheet to the Calc Tool that identifies the specific fiscal impact for school divisions when there are changes to items like enrollment, LCI, VRS, GL, RHCC, transportation, etc. and similarly for Rebenchmarking. / The last 2 sheets in the Calculation Template, “Account Funding Matrix” and “Account Funding Explanations,” detail data sources and program descriptions, as well as formulas used for Direct Aid funding. Using these sheets will help you can determine which programs will be impacted by changing certain inputs. Comparing your bottom line or specific funding categories after each change is the easiest way to determine fiscal impact. VDOE will look into some type of a comparison function for future Calculation Templates.
11. Elem/Second / What is the accepted method of calculating elementary (k-7) and secondary (8-12) expenditures at the Middle School level? I know that some school divisions apply a 2/3 and 1/3 split across the board while others report expenditures by actual teacher/grade but then have to apply a 2/3 - 1/3 split for the resource teachers. / Costs can be allocated based on percentage of payroll dollars for Elementary versus Secondary or by actual Head Count. Either of these ratios may be used to split any shared expenditures such as Resource teachers.
12. Food Service / ASR Function 65000, School Food Service. Why are all food service expenditures excluded from the Required Local Effort? / Required Local Effort applies only to the Standards of Quality (SOQ). SOQ funding supports certain positions and non-personal expenditure categories as specified in Standards 1 and 2 in the Code of Virginia, which does not include school nutrition.
13. FTE / Can we please see comparison amount on the FTE report? We have no idea what the comparison amount we are working with. It would help especially if we no longer have positions and make it easier to find errors where we are not compatible from last year. / The FTE Analysis sheet in the ASRFIN template summarizes current and prior year FTE's for comparison. The FTE Positions sheets compare prior year salaries as reported in ASRFIN. If there were no FTEs in a category in the prior year, the statewide average is used. Please note that it is important to enter accurate information even if there is a large variance from prior years. VDOE will look into options for providing prior year salary information within the template.
14. General / ASR District Function 61000: Why are the expenditures for this function excluded from the instructional expense formula? Particularly Non-Remedial and Remedial Summer School and Pre-K. / Remedial Summer School is “administered by the school division and supervised in an instructional program by the principal of the school (or other person serving in that capacity)”. (Acct. code structure pg. 17) This program is required for students needing assistance with particular subjects, and there is no fee to attend. This is a direct instructional expense and therefore is included in SOQ funding and the instructional percentage calculation, (please see the shading for program 11 in the ASRFIN template to determine which expenditures are considered instructional and support).
All other district wide programs under Function 61000 including Non-Remedial Summer school and Pre-Kindergarten (with the exception of Textbook expenditures) are optional and do not support the SOQ, therefore are not considered instructional expenditures.
15. General / Does the Asst. Supt. of Instruction belong in Instruction or Administration? / Assistant Superintendents should be reported in Admin., Attendance and Health-Executive Administration Services (Function 62120): “Activities associated with the overall general administration of, or executive responsibility for, the LEA, including the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and other staff who report directly to the Superintendent.” (Acct. Code Structure pg. 6)
16. General / School divisions lost funding for School Construction and Support in 2009-2010. Is there any other funding for school facilities in the State funding formula? I don't see it. Why don't school divisions receive credit towards the Required Local Effort when they incur facility costs? The state has accepted zero responsibility for their share of school construction and maintenance costs. / Required Local Effort applies only to the Standards of Quality (SOQ). SOQ funding supports certain positions and non-personal expenditure categories as specified in Standards 1 and 2 in the Code of Virginia.
There are other options for help with school construction, such as Literary Fund loans, QZABs, Security Equipment Grants, etc. Any suggested changes to state funding for capital projects should be initiated through your local legislator to take to the General Assembly.
17. General / Is there a vision to have a multi-tasking system established for Virginia Educational Systems? (Routing, cost analysis, monthly data feeds used for quantitative analysis)? / We are in the process of researching additional automation alternatives with the VDOE Information Management staff as we have very complex and detailed forms and reporting needs. The locality ledger provides detail on state payments and the tables in the Superintendent’s Annual Report are driven by data submitted in the ASRFIN for all divisions. If you have specific requests that are not currently addressed with available reporting, please contact the Budget Office and we can consider additional options to meet your needs.
18. General / My question has to do with supplemental instructional duties for teachers. This includes activities such as remedial SOL prep classes and SAT prep classes. I want to report these variable expenses in the salary for the teacher (object code 1120). But when I do, the FTE report often returns an error that my average salaries are not consistent with the previous year. This requires a call to VDOE which takes too much time to resolve. Can this be fixed? / Supplemental salaries and wages should be reported under Object 1620: “Overtime and supplements paid for work performed outside an employee’s normal contract period for remediation, extracurricular activities, fixed travel supplements, coaching, and advanced educational degree supplements.” (Acct. Code Structure pg. 21) Related FICA and other expenditures should be reported under the correct Object Code within the same program.
19. General / Is there a reason why object codes are not consistent across all worksheets? Object code 1520, Substitutes, is not an option on the worksheets for Media Services, Office of the Principal, Admin/Attendance/Health and a few others. However, for worksheets listed, school divisions incur these costs. / For reporting purposes within the ASRFIN, Object Code 1520 is intended to capture substitute teachers and guidance counselors. Wage expenditures for other substitutes should be included with the salaries/wages for the full-time positions. VDOE will look into this as a possible future change.
20. General / Our school division is considering outsourcing custodial and food services. For the purpose of my question, assume there is no savings. Costs are being shifted from personnel (salary and benefits) to services. In this scenario, would the outsourcing of services impact my school division in VDOE's funding formula or rebenchmarking formula? / Required Local Effort applies only to the Standards of Quality (SOQ). SOQ funding supports certain positions and non-personal expenditure categories as specified in Standards 1 and 2 in the Code of Virginia, which does not include school nutrition. Funding for school nutrition is handled outside the SOQ and is driven largely by the number of meals served; as a result, shifting expenditures from personnel to purchased services will not impact state funding.