Hitchcock__Jennifer_EDAS748_GoalsandStrategies

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GOALS AND STRATEGIES 1 Goals and Strategies Jennifer Hitchcock School of Education, Liberty University Author Note “Jennifer Hitchcock I have no known conflict of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jennifer Hitchcock. Email: jhitchcock3@liberty.edu

GOALS AND STRATEGIES 2 Abstract All businesses must create equitable budgets. This holds true for schools as well. Loudoun County Public Schools needs to take the time to address three separate budgeting needs to ensure their proposed track is equitable for all students. This paper will look at the three areas of need, suggest a SMART goal for each, and discuss ways to help implement the essential items. Keywords : Loudoun County Public Schools, LCPS, Budget, Reading, Pay, Buildings

GOALS AND STRATEGIES 3 Goals and Strategies Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) had done well overall in creating and implementing a budget. Given the size of the county, the number of students, the variety of needs, and various controversies that have surrounded the schools there, they have worked hard to create what appears to be a fair budget overall. While it does look to be decent, after analyzing the budget and speaking to various stakeholders, there are still issues that LCPS must address to be sure they are creating a fair and equitable budget that benefits everyone as much as possible. Part of creating a budget for a district as large as Loudoun County Public Schools is listening to their constituents. While the stakeholders of the county have been vocal in the past about their desires for the schools and budget, many feel the county has been derelict in its duty regarding listening to what the community, students, and staff say needs adjusted (Bour, 2021; Goodenow, 2023; Gustin, 2023; Minock, 2023). A simple discussion with some of the stakeholders presented various areas that they feel need work, items that LCPS can easily adjust their current funding to help implement. Financial Goal Setting SMART Goal #1 Goal: In the proposed FY25 budget, Loudoun County Public Schools will shift 2% of their budgeted amount for each new school being built to the budgeted amount designated for the repair of older schools in Loudoun County. Loudoun County Public Schools officially started in the mid-1800s (Solinger, 2013) with Loudoun County High School. While this school is currently the oldest high school in the county still in use, having been built in 1954 (Smith, 2021), there is still an ever-growing

GOALS AND STRATEGIES 4 population that has caused the county to continue to expand. Currently, LCPS will house 100 schools opening at the start of the 2024-2025 school year ( School profiles, 2023). This enlarging district has continued to place millions into their new schools, with one of the newest high schools, Lightridge, costing the county $125.5 million (Collazo, 2019) with a lot of extras like a maker space and student lounge area ( Lightridge High School / Homepage, n.d.). This was done while many parents were concerned about the quality of older schools such as Park View High School (Satterfield, 2022), which is now scheduled to be rebuilt over remodeled, costing the county approximately $221 million (Goodenow, 2022). By simply allocating some of the money slotted for the extras designed to go into new schools, LCPS can utilize current funds to fix up and maintain schools rather than rebuild them, saving potentially millions of budgeted dollars for use elsewhere. Not only will this ensure students are all learning in safe and welcoming buildings where one school is not better equipped than another (as is the case with schools like Lightridge vs older buildings), but it will ensure funds are available to help provide other necessary items the students and staff require. SMART Goal #2 Goal 2: By the creation of the FY27 budget, Loudoun County Public Schools will increase the pay for the Universal Staffing Scale by a minimum of 10% for each lane and step. Loudoun County Public Schools is located in northern Virginia. Due to its location and proximity to the Nation’s Capital and the desire of many people to live here, the cost of living is not cheap. Median property values are around $700K to $780K creating a mortgage or rent of over $3,000 ( Loudoun County, VA 2023 housing market: Realtor.com, 2023). Currently allocates pay on different pay scales. Employees such as custodians, nutrition workers, teacher’s assistants, and bus assistants are paid according to the universal pay scale. Pay

GOALS AND STRATEGIES 5 for this level is not much more than $25 an hour depending on the lane they are in. Given the current cost of living, the budgeted 2.5% increase for FY 24 is not enough for this group to adequately survive. LCPS needs to allocate more funding to the pay scale for an essential group of employees ( FY24 Adopted Budget, 2023). Raising their pay will not only help the staff, but it will help ensure LCPS attracts more high-quality staff while retaining the ones they currently have this benefits the students best in the long run. SMART Goal #3 Goal 3: In the creation of the FY25 budget, Loudoun County Public Schools will increase the staffing allocation and thus the appropriate amount for staff pay to allow for an increase of no less than one staff training in the specialized reading programs (ELL, Special Education, or Reading Specialist) per school to allow for the tutoring of any student who qualifies for the “All in VA” program. LCPS students are struggling. This has been made known by reading audits in Loudoun County (Decodingdyslexiava, 2022) as well as by the state (Blacher & Rogers, 2023). Given the massive amount of students now required to attend tutoring sessions to help raise the reading levels in Virginia schools (Elwood, 2023), LCPS needs to utilize the money Governor Youngkin has allocated for his program along with some of the current LCPS budget to provide more staff trained in specialized reading programs. This will not only ensure newer students are learning reading as needed, but the ones who are struggling will gain this lifelong essential skill. Strategies SMART Goal #1: In the proposed FY25 budget, Loudoun County Public Schools will shift 2% of their budgeted amount for each new school being built to the budgeted amount designated for the repair of older schools in Loudoun County.

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