HCPSS

HCPSS 2020 operating budget update

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The board received many emails about the school budget proposed by the County Executive. In those emails they talked about a 30 million dollar increase on the operating budget over last year. This is not true. The increase is 0.9% percent and the amount is 5.14 million dollars. 

Here is Howard County Proposed. FY2020 budget: https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/Portals/0/FY2020%20Proposed%20Operating%20Budget-web.pdf

On page 22, we have the numbers:

Screen Shot 2019-05-03 at 11.26.52 PM

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It is a tough year for the school board and the county government. Since the county executive’s operating budget was out already, we need convince the county council to allocate extra money for the school system.

The school system needs to balance the budget. Here are some big numbers: 

  1. There is a 37 million dollar deficit in the health fund which we need pay off. In 2020 we need spend extra 7 million dollars on the health care fund in order not to increase the deficit.
  2. There is an increase of around 800-1000 new students into HCPSS. For each student, the county spent around 11k ( total is around 15,476 per HCPSS student) and the total net increase on spending by the student enrollment increase is around 11.5 million dollars (10.3 M for staff increase and 1.2 million for transportation) .
  3. We have FY 2019 negotiated salary increase for teachers which is 6.7 million dollars. This has to be honored.
  4. We have another negotiated salary increase (@3%) for teachers which is 19 million dollars. For the same reason, we have other salary increase for non-teachers which is 3.1 million dollars.
  5.  We have non-public placement for special education(new enrollment?), which is 3.8 million dollars.
  6. Other materials of instruction and operations of  plant are around 2.5 million dollars.

I can assure you that increasing the class size will be the last choice for the board. Increasing class size by one will save 6.5 millions dollars.

The board will have another work session on May 8th, Wednesday 4:00-6:00PM.

Stay tuned.

HCPSS School Start Time repo

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There have been continuous investigations/discussions on the school start time over the years. The cost of implementing a new high school start time later varies a lot. Here is a summary for various proposals. The starting time proposals ( elementary, middle and high) are different from one to another. 

The difficult part for this discussion is “what is the better school start time and what is the cost”. I will continue engage in this conversation and put our student’s health and growth in the center of the focus. 

The following cost is the extra money we need spend on the current $40 million dollars school transportation budget. 

In the 2014-02-20 report, the estimated cost is $20 million dollars (high schools start at 8:15).

In the 2015-06-11 report, the estimated cost is 13.8 million dollars.

In the 2015-10-22 report, four models were discussed.

  1. Model 2 costed extra 9.3 million dollars,
  2. Model 3 costed extra 12.6 million dollars,
  3. Model 4 costed extra 4 million dollars. 
  4. Model 5 costed extra 12 million dollars. 

In the 2016-11-17 report, four new models were discussed (all four models start elementary schools at 7:30-7:45. There were the four models where I established a parent group and testified on behalf of them ):

  1. Model 1 costed extra 1.7 million dollars. 
  2. Model 2 costed extra 0.9 million dollars. 
  3. Model 3 costed extra 5.3 million dollars. 
  4. Model 4 costed extra 3 million dollars. 

In the 2017-12-19 report, four models were discussed (All start after 8:00)

  1. Model 1 costed extra 6.3 million dollars. 
  2. Model 2 costed extra 7.62 million dollars. 
  3. Model 3 costed extra 9.3 million dollars. 
  4. Model 4 costed extra 8.36 million dollars. 

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Here is the list of usual historical documents for your info.

—————-begin———————–

February 20, 2014

June 11, 2015

October 22, 2015

April 28, 2016

November 17, 2016

January 12, 2017

February 7, 2017 Public Hearing

February 23, 2017 – Internal Audit – Costs of Later Start & Dismissal Times

February 23, 2017

December 19, 2017

—————-end———————–

 

2019 Spring Board Corner

2019 Spring Board Corner

By. Dr. Chao Wu

Board Member of Howard County Board ofEducation

This article represents only my personal view. It does not represent the Howard County Board of Education. This article was revised by Tess Yu.

It has been a totally new experience for me after winning the election in November 2018. I have strived to work hard for our students, parents, and school system from this important position. I read all the documents and prepared for board meetings, joined many community and school activities, and visited many schools in my cluster.

This is my first attempt to write an open and quarterly letter to communicate with our community members on what has happened in our school system.

Budget

The first large and most important agenda came to the board was the HCPSS 2020 operating budget. HCPSS superintendent Dr.Michael Martirano proposed a nearly $1 billion, comprehensive school budget aligned with his “A Strategic Call to Action,” which defined the needs and priorities for our school system as determined by Dr. Martirano. During the budget discussion,I realized that HCPSS was not able to provide sufficient resources to support our students due to budget constraints, among other things, that have occurred in the past. On Feb. 19, 2019, the BOE board approved the school budget after six work sessions. The budget is now under the county government and county council’s hands for evaluation and approval. Here are some of my take-aways from the work sessions:

  • After the whole process, I believe the budgeting process needs improvement. For example, without knowing how much HCPSS will receive, the school already signed contracts with several parties. We promise many programs and contracts without money at hand. The superintendent, the BOE, the county council and the county government need figure out a better way to work together on the timeline of the budget in the future. An earlier negotiated range of budget increase/decrease will be better for the budget process. It will reduce the pressure on our staff to manage the whole progress, detailed budget book and a following-years’ planning.
  • At the end, the board and the community have to realize that we are not able to afford many services we have before. The state legislature created a formula which does not favor our county in terms of funding. The local economy is growing slow and highly relies on the property taxes and personal income taxes, and our county tax is the third highest in Maryland. For people living in Columbia, there is an extra 0.67% annual charge too. Our county needs find a way to attract more business and diversify its’ revenue channel.

  • Our need in the school is changing. Every year, we are going to see another extra 800-1000 students into the school system. Among the new enrollment, about 20% students are students with special needs while right now on average around 10% HCPSS students are of special need. In the last several years, the percentage of Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) student population is increasing, now reaching around 22%. We need more resources and a more efficient and effective method to support our special needs students and low-income students while maintaining a robust academic curriculum for our students. We need a partnership with the community members to address this fast changing scenario. I also see technology and innovation can help to improve the delivery of our   education service to our students.

  • Our employee health care cost is facing two pressures. One is from the existing 37 million dollars’ deficit accumulated over the last several years. The other is the quick increase (over 10%) per year, which means more than 10 million dollars increase each year for the moment. I have already advocated that we should look at more flexible health care plans for our employee and other ways to curb the quick increase of health care cost.

 

Others in the agenda

  1. The board approved the schematic design on High School 13 on Mission Road, which is set to open in2023.
  2. The board also approved the renovation plan for Hammond High School, which is set to finish in2022.
  3. The board is interested in another comprehensive redistricting due to several crowded schools. We are going to hire a consultant company to do the work. The HCPSS feasibility study will come out in June, the Area Attendance Committee will start to work in in summer and the board will host public forum on this infall. The new changes, should they happen, will take place in 2020 fall.
  4. The board is also interested in the “starting high school later” initiative.
  5. The board is working with the county to install “STOP” sign camera on our school bus. On average every day, there are 290 drivers who do not stop while our school bus is stopping on the road. This is a great safety hazard for our students.

Thanks for reading.

Dr. Chao Wu, Board Member
Howard County Board of Education

www.chaowu.org

One Page Proposed HCPSS 2020 Budget



This is a summary for people to understand the current budget quickly.








I am a little disappointed that redistricting tool and transportation routing are in the optional category. I am glad they are  included in the budget with my push, but they are still not receiving enough support. Starting high school late, bus route optimization and student safety, school redistricting require us to have the necessary tool and software to get it right. Without the right data to  support, it is hard to make the right decision.

Here is an article “Why UPS drivers do not make a left turn” https://www.businessinsider.com/ups-efficiency-secret-our-trucks-never-turn-left-2011-3.

At the same time, please read my original post from the 2020 County Spending Affordability Advisory Committee report: https://chaowu.org/2019/03/05/2020-county-spending-affordability-advisory-committee-report/.The county projected revenue growth is around 10 million dollars.





We are in short of money to provide the same level of service for our school system. We need innovate to educate.







HCPSS Special Education First Step

Source: https://www.hcpss.org/special-education/program-details/

There are three intervention stages for children: under 3 years old, between 3 and 5, beyond 5 years old. Please contact the hotlines below for the resources to help your child.

中文

根据孩子的年纪不同，有三个干预阶段：三岁以下，三岁到五岁，五岁以上。这些评估和帮助都是免费的。希望大家积极利用上面的资源，帮助你自己的孩子。

한국어

3 세 이하, 3 세 ~ 5 세, 5 세 이상 자녀의 나이에 따라 세 가지 중재 단계가 있습니다. 이러한 평가와 도움은 무료입니다. 모든 사람들이 위의 자료를 적극적으로 활용하여 자신의 자녀를 도울 수 있기를 바랍니다.

Identification

Children may be referred through the Child Find Program. “Child Find” is the term used for the process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children and youth who may be in need of special education services and programs. A referral may be made by anyone who suspects that a child may have special needs, a delay in development, or a disability. Screening and assessment must be completed prior to identifying a student as eligible for special education.

How do I Refer a Child?

For children who are below the age of three, call the Howard County Infants and Toddlers Program at 410-313-7017 or write to:

Howard County Infants and Toddlers Program
8930 Stanford Blvd.
Columbia, MD 21045

Parents may also email anne_hickey@hcpss.org or jennifer_harwood@hcpss.org

For children who are 3 through 5 years old, call the Child Find Team at 410-313-7046 or write to:

Child Find Team
County Diagnostic Center
5451 Beaverkill Road
Columbia, MD 21044.

For school age children who are enrolled in the Howard County Public Schools, speak with the child’s teacher or the principal.

For school age children who are enrolled in private or religiously affiliated schools, call the County Diagnostic Center at 410-313-7046 or write to:

County Diagnostic Center
5451 Beaverkill Road
Columbia, MD 21044

Eligibility

Children with disabilities from birth to age 21 may be eligible for special education. School-age children who are eligible usually receive special education services in the public school. Preschool children may receive services at school, at home, or both. Students with disabilities who attend private or religiously affiliated schools also may be eligible for special education services.

Federal law, IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) defines “children with disabilities” as having any of the following types of disabilities:

  1. Autism
  2. Deaf-blindness
  3. Deafness
  4. Developmental delay (State option)
  5. Emotional disturbance
  6. Hearing impairment
  7. Intellectual Disability
  8. Multiple disabilities
  9. Orthopedic impairment
  10. Other health impairment
  11. Specific learning disability
  12. Speech or language impairment
  13. Traumatic brain injury
  14. Visual impairment (including blindness).

HCPSS Seeks Citizen Member for Educational Equity Policy Development Committee

February 8, 2019

HCPSS Seeks Citizen Member for Educational Equity Policy Development Committee

Applications Due February 19, 2019

Ellicott City, Maryland — The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) invites citizens to take an active role in developing school system policies as members of policy development/revision committees.

HCPSS is currently seeking a general citizen candidate for membership on the Policy Development Committee for Policy 1080 Educational Equity (new). Committee members take an active role in developing HCPSS policy proposals. Their knowledge, experience and perspective improve the policy development process and ensure transparency at every stage of the committee’s work.

The committee is scheduled to meet on several dates during March 2019 to discuss draft policy language that aligns with forthcoming State requirements regarding educational equity.

Citizens interested in participating may submit a statement of interest online or contact HCPSS policy staff at policy@hcpss.org or 410.313.8954. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, February 19. 

HCPSS FY2020 operating budget factors

Tonight, the board voted to send our school budget to HoCo County government with 9.2% increase of MOE (Maintenance of Effort). Here are the two key documents for you to read and analyze. Please share your feedback. Note that if the board does not ask for it, the county will not give money to the school.

The board will continue to work on the budget. We want to make sure the school uses the money with great care and puts our student, teacher and staff in the center of the discussion. I also want to put the budget in a perspective for the future. We need allocate money for those initiative.

2019_2_7_FY2020_Operating_budget_factorsDownload
02 13 2019 FY 2020 Operating Budget Scenarios for ConsiderationDownload

2016 Consultant Study on HCPSS enrollment, capacity and redistricting

The following areas are discussed in the report.

1.Enrollment projection methodology
2. Evaluation of school capacity
3. Redistricting scenario testing
4. Adjustment to feeder system
5. Evaluate income disparity among schools

The document is attached here for your reference.

2016 consultant study on redistrictingDownload

Please share your feedback here or with chaowu2016@gmail.com or boe@hcpss.org.

HCPSS redistricting process started again

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Tonight, HoCo BOE directed the superintendent to restart the redistricting process again for the year 2020. I want to make sure we are doing it right this time.

I specifically asked the following to be investigated:

1) if redistricted, HCPSS will probably open all schools for development. Considering our continous debate on APFO, I want to know how this affect school open/close chart and how many more students will be generated. Right now, our school construction(capital projects) just could not catch up with our student growth. This is why we are crowded now. By comprehensive redistricting, we will have more capacity issue even we temporarily solve the number issue for the moment. Please see the open seat calculation based on each school https://chaowu.org/2019/01/21/2018-hcpss-open-seat-calculation-and-projection/.

2) check how many students will be redistricted twice or how many isolated island in polygons. considering the new high school #13 will open in two years (after this)with more than 1600 capacity.

3) what are the travel time, transportation cost for the redistricting proposal? for example, the same distance on 108 may cost 5 minutes, but 25 minutes on Route 1. Maybe the new proposal will save time or cost. maybe not. We need a baseline number.

My suggestion on defining the objective of this redistricting before hiring a consultant was rejected unfortunately by other board members. I want to make sure this BOE will not make the same mistake as the previous BOE on the school starting time investigation. They spent money on consultant and found the solutions were not acceptable at all.

My suggestion on quantifying Policy 6010 was not up. We should put more objective performance indicators in the process. We know redistricting will put many people in high emotion with various reasons. Without sorting this out from the start, it will face obstacles in the future. There are people who want to move other people’s kids. There are people who dont’ want to move at all even at a crowded school. There are people who value their community schools, etc. I saw them all and talked to them all.

I am afraid we will end the same cycle as last year. Let’s try to disrupt our students as less as possible.

Keep tuned. I am looking forward to your feedback again. The board email is boe@hcpss.org.

Howard County School Construction Financing(presentation on 2019-1-12)

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This presentation was presented by the Howard County Administration to the HoCo State Delegate Work session on Saturday 2019-1-12.

There is a surcharge comparison among different counties. Among 13 counties, we are at bottom three. Montgomery almost charges 10 times more than our county.

surchange comparison

Predicted new revue under new law:

increased revenue

Note: Every new student costs around 15,000 dollar per year in HoCo in the operating cost. Recently, we are adding around 1,000 new students per year, which is 15 million dollars. 

The presentation is attached here for reference.

DelegationHearing 1-12

APFO Overview_2019_1_12

This is the APFO overview presented to HoCo State Delegation Work Session.

Some slides :

  • Each year a 6-year capital improvement plan (CIP) is adopted by the County Council
  • The CIP covers roads, schools, fire, police, parks, libraries, community college, water and sewer, stormwater, and other county facilities
  • Based on general plan and individual department plan objectives
  • There are 3 test associated with APFO – 1) Allocations, 2) Schools, 3) Roads
  • Allocations test is conducted at initial plan stage approval
  • Schools test conducted once plan has allocations
  • For roads test, traffic study must be conducted, and adverse impacts must be mitigated by developer

Recent changes to APFO

  • Major change is lowering capacity utilization rate to 105% for ES, 110% for MS, and added HS test at 115% — effective in July 2019
  • Other significant changes include:
    • exempting moderate income housing units from needing allocations
    • a stricter roads test
    • adjusting allocations in the Growth & Revit. and Est. Comm. areas and eliminating shared pool
    • allowing the County Council by resolution to exempt LIHTC projects from Schools Test

Here is the heat map for future development. Look at those blue dots scattering around.

development heat map

The presentation is attached here:

Howard County Delegation Meeting – APFO Overview

Swear-in speech on 2018-12-3

Chao Wu Swear-in Speech

2018-12-3

It is my great honor and pleasure to be a new board member of Howard County Board of Education.

I first would like to thank my family here, my wife, my daughter and my son. Without their support, I would not be able to volunteer at all in the community many years ago. When I first served on the River Hill Village Board, my daughter was 2 years old and my son was not born yet. It is my wife who really managed everything well and smoothly. I own every thanks to her.

I am speaking in Chinese for a few seconds. 我非常感谢我的家庭，我的太太，女儿和儿子。我开始在社区做志愿者活动的时候，我女儿才两岁左右，我儿子还没有出生。是我老婆在家里忙上忙下，使得今天的一切才成为可能。我感谢她为这个家庭所作出的牺牲和努力。十八年前，我和她在中国合肥相识，现在我们两个人远离故土，这个美丽的哈维郡安家乐业，希望我们彼此支持，携手向前。

I would like to thank my campaign team and my volunteer team. It is their strongest support which made today possible.  They believed in me and usually dragged in their whole family (their children and their parents) to support my campaign, whether in the sunshine or in the pouring rain. They helped dropping the literature and greeting voters. They helped organizing greet and meet. They helped funding my event, donating money to my campaign. They sent me many great advices. They put a yard sign in front of their house. Or they simply showed up in my event. Majority of them had never done this before. It was their first time really devoted to a campaign activity because we all believe great education is the bridge to success for our younger generation.

Eventually every little support helped. We won number 4 out of 13 candidates in the primary election in June. We won the second place out of 8 eight candidates in the general election in November.  I am so proud of you and you should also be very proud of yourself. We should be proud of ourselves. We set a goal, worked really hard and made it.  It is a victory for all of us.

Finally I would like to thank our voters who casted their votes for me. No endorsement is better than our voters’ trust. As an independent candidate and non-partisan election, I received 54,254 votes from our voters in our county. You believed in my vision for the school system. and you listened to my personal stories.  Thank you for your trust.

In the following four years, I am looking forward to working with all other board members, teachers, school staff, our students, parents and other stakeholders. We would try our best to provide quality education for all our students.  Keep an open mind, improve the decision and communication process and seek a command ground for common sense solutions for our school system.

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

HCPSS health care deficit along the way

Here I am attaching several figures to show how HCPSS health care got such a big deficit as today. And the new fiscal year, HCPSS need another extra $11 millions to fund the health care cost, not mentioning the $37 million deficit.

health fund deficit p1health fund deficit p2health fund deficit p3health fund deficit p4health fund deficit p5