River Valley Local Schools Community Partnership April 7, 2008

Agenda Purpose of the Community Partnership State of River Valley Schools Academic Financial Break into groups Report from groups Adjourn

Purpose of the Community Partnership Improve the dialog between the RV community and the school Create a deeper understanding Of community issues by the school Of school issues by the community Develop and communicate a shared vision of the future of our school system

Voters Taxpayers Ohio Department of Education River Valley Board of Education Marion Community River Valley Employees Parents The River Valley Local School District Students

Performance on State Report Card River Valley School District Ranking on Report Card 2007 EFFECTIVE 23/30 indicators 2006 Continuous Improvement 2005 Continuous Improvement 2004 Continuous Improvement 2003 Continuous Improvement 2002 Continuous Improvement Possible Report Card Rankings (for a district or a building) Excellent Effective Continuous Improvement Academic Watch Academic Emergency

Continuous Improvement Effective Focused intervention at each building Parent volunteers Professional development for staff, especially literacy strategies Language block at elementary schools

Effective Excellent Implemented new language arts curriculum Improve professional development for staff Find ways to improve individual interaction between students and teachers Improve interventions – including summer programs Expand opportunities for high school students

Summary - Academic We are moving in the right direction, but we are not where we want to be Not everything that “counts” can be “counted”

State of RV - Financial Sources of funds Local property taxes (45% in ) State “foundation” (34% in ) Open enrollment students Minimal Federal and other sources Use of funds We are a service business; most funds (73%) go to the cost of personnel 27% of funds go to utilities, fuel, textbooks, etc. We lose open enrollment dollars when RV students attend another public school

Forecasting Process Look back three years and forward five years Used by the Board and administration as a management tool Available in the Information Booklet and on the State Department of Education’s Web Site Updated several times throughout the year

Current Five Year Forecast Assumes our renewal levies pass

Statewide Spending per Pupil

Area Spending per Pupil Expenditure Per Pupil (EPP) < $8,000 (145 districts) $8,001 - $8,555 (159 districts) $8,556 - $9,623 (168 districts) $9,624 > (137 districts) Low= $6,876 High= $18,761 State EPP= $9,623 Mean= $8,991 Median=$8,555 RV – Bottom 25%

RV Spending Per Student

RV Spending Per Pupil RV would need an additional $1.3 M in revenue to fill the gap between what we spend and what a similar district spends

Options to solve the probable 2010 – 2011 budget problem Income tax Property tax Make significant cuts beginning in the 2009 – 2010 school year Attract new open enrollment students, or keep more of our “native students” Some combination of all of the above

Income Tax versus Property Tax Income Tax Rate Traditional BaseEarned Income Only.25%$476, equivalent mills $444, equivalent mills.50%$952, equivalent mills $889, equivalent mills.75%$1,429, equivalent mills $1,334, equivalent mills

Current Five Year Forecast Assumes our renewal levies pass

Estimated Budget impact of.5% income tax or 3.5 mill property tax levy Assumes our renewal levies pass About 900K of new funds starting in FY 2010

Community Partnership What we have learned so far…… RV Residents have a lot of pride in our district Cafeteria food is OK but can improve (from a student group) Overall customer service is OK but can improve Questions about open enrollment There are some lingering issues in Waldo Community Partnership is a good idea

What we hope to learn tonight…. What could we do to improve the Voice of the Valley (or other district-wide communications)? If we have to raise local revenue, would residents be more likely to support an income tax or a property tax? How do RV residents feel about open enrollment? Any other major issues the RV Board/Administration should address?

Break into groups Open, honest dialog Answer question Let us know about any other questions Each group should appoint a spokesperson who is willing to report back to the entire group

Reconvene Summary from each group Questions – we will get back with individuals if we were not able to answer the question during this meeting

Thanks! Next partnership meeting will be held in September or October; you will all be invited!