MANAGEMENT, BUDGET AND PLANNING → FY 2009 Questions & Answers

FY 2009 Operating Budget: Question & Answers

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During the budget process, questions asked by members of the Board of Education at public hearings and work sessions are compiled. Appropriate staff from Montgomery County Public Schools respond to the questions with written answers that are forwarded to Board members.

Answers to other budget questions may be requested from the Department of Management, Budget, and Planning.
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1. Provide information on school counseling ratios at middle and high school levels over the last four years. How will the additional elementary counselors be deployed?
   Answer (45K PDF)

2. Provide information on the cost of an additional Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) team.
   Answer (30K PDF)
   Attachment (83K PDF)

3. Provide the job description for Parent/Community Coordinators. Where are the current Parent/ Community Coordinators located? Are there currently performance measures in place to evaluate effectiveness? If so, provide additional information. How will the six additional positions be deployed?
   Answer (74K PDF)
   Attachment 1 (53K PDF)
   Attachment 2 (38K PDF)

4. What training is proposed for parent community coordinators? Does this training provide standardization and flexibility allowing adaptation to the needs of individual schools?
   Answer (45K PDF)

5. Provide a brief description of the impact on classroom teaching and learning resulting from the reduction of immersion and magnet positions. How will the reduction be implemented?
   Answer (48K PDF)

6. Provide the job description for lunch hour aides and provide data on any safety issues, incidents, or complaints involving lunch hour supervision.
   Answer (78K PDF)

7. What efforts have been made to address issues of crossing safety at Lakelands Park Middle School?
   Answer (44K PDF)

8. How many IB Middle Year Programs does MCPS currently have? Where are these programs located and at what is the cost? Where are the High School IB Programs located and are there IB Middle Year Programs in these clusters?
   Answer (72K PDF)

9. How will the recommended $1.2 million budget for the Middle School Magnet Consortium be allocated by school and position? Is the cost for transportation for out-of-area students included in these funds? What is the cost of the transportation for students residing outside the consortium?
   Answer (55K PDF)

10. What are the savings from reducing release periods for magnet programs?
    Answer (45K PDF)

11. Provide information on the proposed reduction of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP). What is the staff to student ratio? Provide a three year history of SLP positions and other related services, including workload standards in the ASHA presentation.
    Answer (63K PDF)

12. Provide information on position reductions other than those noted on the Program Reductions and Efficiencies chart on Page 33 of the FY 2009 Superintendent’s Recommended Operating Budget Summary document. Provide an index that refers to the detail of these reductions.
    Answer (63K PDF)

13. What MCPS positions provide parent support and outreach? How are we partnering across departments for parent support?
    Answer (58K PDF)

14. Explain the changes in the budget for the Safe and Drug Free Schools (SADFS) program related to stipends, professional part-time salaries, and instructional materials.
    Answer (46K PDF)

15. Provide data that is available on the performance of students attending the Magnet Consortium schools. How does it compared to the data from the schools that the students came from.
    Answer (61K PDF)

16. Respond to the MCEA testimony that advocates that the nine schools selected for Middle School Reform be given the choice of implementation of the Magnet Consortium model or the Pilot School model. What is the fiscal impact of allowing schools to have the choice?
    Answer (46K PDF)

17. How does MCPS project enrollment for special education programs? What is the projection for ESOL students?
    Answer (63K PDF)

18. Respond to the issues presented in the testimony provided on behalf of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League (MCTL).
    Answer (79K PDF)

19. Provide information on the Athletic Tutoring program at Quince Orchard High School.
    Answer (44K PDF)

20. Provide information on the deferral of 18 promethean boards at Montgomery Village Middle School.
    Answer (50K PDF)

21. What is the cost of implementing the AVID program?
    Answer (45K PDF)

22. Provide data on the number of middle school math teachers that have content certification and those that do not. What training opportunities are available for math teachers who want to expand their content knowledge?
    Answer (86K PDF)

23. Provide a profile of the current IB program at Watkins Mill High School. How many students have been able to transfer in and participate? Is there excess capacity? What resources would be necessary to accommodate an additional 15 to 20 students?
    Answer (47K PDF)

24. What is the cost to add an additional elementary assistant principal position? How many positions have been added and how many would be needed to stay on schedule?
    Answer (32K PDF)

25. Provide information on the readiness of teachers to accelerate elementary math. What training is being contemplated to make sure that the system remains current?
    Answer (79K PDF)

26. Provide data on high school literacy coaches. What are the reading scores for schools with the position and those without? How does MCPS support the literacy coaches and how is success being evaluated and measured?
    Answer (45K PDF)

27. Provide information on how staffing decisions are made to support special education students in general education classrooms.
    Answer (44K PDF)

28. What is the cost for activity buses and how are funds distributed to middle and high schools? How does it operate and what is the cost?
    Answer (47K PDF)

29. Does the Tech Mod program include support for Promethean Boards and Alpha Smarts?
    Answer (39K PDF)

30. Provide information on the reduction of teachers in the METS program.
    Answer (34K PDF)

31. Provide information on preventative maintenance, including HVAC maintenance?
    Answer (35K PDF)

32. Provide information about the crossing guard situation at Cabin John Middle School?
    Answer (42K PDF)

33. Provide information on the use of site coordinators to oversee major construction projects. What is the cost of a position?
    Answer (32K PDF)

34. Provide information on the difference between focus schools, schools in transition, and Title I schools. What schools fall into each of the three categories?
    Answer (70K PDF)
    Attachment (53K PDF)

35. Explain the $395,083 reduction and its impact in Miscellaneous under the category “Other” in the budget for the Department of Recruitment and Staffing.
    Answer (45K PDF)

36. There is an $82,000 increase for supplemental summer employment shown in the Program Budget for the Extracurricular Activities Program. Why is this increase needed? How many and what kinds of employees will it be spent on?
    Answer (34K PDF)

37. For Utilities and Facilities Management, there is an increase of $38,755 in “other” under Supplies and Materials that triples the current allocation of $22,100 to $60,855. Considering that there is a reduction of 6.0 positions, why is there a need to increase supplies and materials by this amount?
    Answer (45K PDF)

38. What is the current FARMS rate for each school? What schools are being considered as new focus schools? What schools are expected to have focus school resources realigned? Will they continue to have the class size reduction initiative under this proposal?
    Answer (44K PDF)
    Attachment (123K PDF)

39. The FY 2009 Realignments section of Chapter 1-25 proposes several realignments in support of the School Improvement Plan. Please explain the reason for the realignments.
    Answer (57K PDF)

40. What is the cost savings associated with publishing The Bulletin once a month instead of four times a month? Is this cost savings captured in the FY 2009 budget? What are the costs of other documents mailed to a broad audience? Are there plans to make any other reductions in publications?
    Answer (49K PDF)

41. Provide trend data on enrollment and staffing projections for speech pathologists.
    Answer (83K PDF)

42. Provide a list of schools, enrollment, number of counselors, and ratio of student to counselor.
    Answer (97K PDF)

43. What schools will receive the ten added assistant principals?
    Answer (51K PDF)

44. How are counselors assigned to schools?
    Answer (41K PDF)

45. In the expansion of the middle school reform, what is included for staff development to focus on skill levels. How does this compare with the efforts for staff development with the early childhood education initiative?
    Answer (60K PDF)

46. What is the cost per middle school for inclusion in the reform effort. What would be the cost to add 11 or 13 schools in FY 2009? What would be the trade-offs?
    Answer (56K PDF)

47. Provide additional information about the positions to support nine middle schools in Middle School Reform. If money is tight, are there other positions to help build capacity without adding more schools?
    Answer (43K PDF)

48. What is the minimum required to support literacy and math in middle schools?
    Answer (45K PDF)

49. Regarding the discussion of M-Stat, what is the cost to expand capacity to improve knowledge transfer processes.
    Answer (47K PDF)

50. What is the status of establishing a one-stop shop for parents at Rocking Horse Road Center?
    Answer (38K PDF)

51. Provide information on resources available to support the success of students on the HSA, especially the students who have been unsuccessful.
    Answer (44K PDF)

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