FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 25, 2023
Time Requested: 03:45 PM |
| Agency: |
Education, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 3172 |
Introduced |
HB3035 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Governor -- Bills Requested By |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
0313
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund N/A
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses, Creates New Program
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
This proposed legislation, in its current form, will have fiscal impact on the WVDE. Specifically, this bill requires intensive intervention services be utilized; requires a benchmark assessment/screener be implemented in K-3 grades; requires training for teachers in the use of the benchmark assessment/screener and comprehensive training on the science of reading and numeracy instruction; provides for extended school day and school year programs; authorizes employing and training additional early childhood classroom assistant teachers for assignment in 2,491 classrooms in 1-3 grades. Additionally, this bill establishes the Grow You Own West Virginia Pathway to Teaching Program designed to improve the recruitment, retention, and diversity of educators in West Virginia’s PreK-12 public schools. This legislation, if enacted, will support the expansion of the GYO and RAP programs to all 55 county systems allowing West Virginia high school students to pursue a teaching degree at a minimal, or without, cost to the students.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2023
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2024
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
104,467,698 |
104,467,698 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
104,467,698 |
104,467,698 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
The estimate provided in this fiscal note was calculated using the current 2022-23 class sizes as follows:
Pre-k classrooms -- 881
Kindergarten classrooms (10+ students) -- 698
First grade -- 868
Second grade -- 826
Third grade classrooms (12+ students) -- 797
Please note, WVBE Policy 2510 requires that all pre-k classrooms and all kindergarten classrooms with more than 10 students have an ECCAT; therefore, some county boards of education already employ approximately 1,579 ECCATs to support pre-K and kindergarten with funding provided by current law. Considering the foregoing information, the WVDE believes that only an additional 2,491 ECCATs would need to be funded to meet the statewide mandate for ECCATs to be employed and assigned to 1-3 grade classrooms established under the provisions of this legislation.
The bill language effectively increases the service personnel ratios under W. Va. Code § 18-9A-5 to fully fund the proposed personnel statutory mandate. The WVDE calculated the ratio increase necessary to fund the 2,491 additional personnel positions required to meet the proposed mandate to be 9.82, establishing the service personnel ratios as follows:
Sparse - 55.50
Low - 54.92
Medium - 54.35
High - 53.79.
Increasing the service personnel ratios to the levels above would result in a cost to WVDE in an amount of $96,767,698 as follows:
Step 2 - Allowance for Service Personnel - $66,438,796
Step 3 - Allowance for Fixed Charges - $5,487,845
Step 6c - Allowance for Service Substitutes - $1,660,970
Retirement - $5,195,514
PEIA - $17,984,573
Total: $96,767,698
Please note, the actual cost of this legislation will fluctuate annual since it is derived by student enrollment.
While there may be associated costs borne solely by county boards of education pertaining to the requirement for in-service training for ECCATS regarding the responsibilities and appropriate measures for exercising authority and control over students, the WVDE lacks the data necessary to calculate the estimated costs of the requirement.
Next, an additional amount of $1,700,000.00 in funding is necessary to implement an early learning reporting system for PreK – 3 grades to assess students and provide actionable data to address ELA and mathematics deficiencies. This estimate, which includes student assessment, staff training and reporting system implementation, is based on the following equation:
85,000 students x $20 per student = $1,700,000.00
Also, additional funding is necessary to provide comprehensive training on the science of reading and numeracy instruction as well as training designed to support students with dyslexia or dyscalculia for all teachers. These multi-day, in-depth sessions are expected to occur during the summer months at regional locations. The cost of venues, presenter stipends, materials, and teachers/ECCATs attendance is estimated to cost an additional $1,000,000.00.
Finally, the Grow your Own Program expansion will cost an additional $5,000,000 to fully expand the Grow Your Own WV Pathway to Teaching and the U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship to all 55 county systems. This funding will support dual credit tuition, materials, supplies, and wrap around services for students enrolled in the Grow Your Own Pathway Program and apprenticeship wages for students enrolled as U.S. DOL Youth Apprentices. This funding will also be utilized to support tuition, materials, supplies, and wrap around services, and wages for on-the-job training hours for the U.S. DOL Apprentices for the college portion of the Grow Your Own WV Pathway Program. The WVDE believes that these initiatives are essential to address the teacher shortage in this State by providing a pipeline for future educators in West Virginia by removing barriers and providing resources designed to support largely rural, low SES, first generation high school students to pursue a career in education.
Memorandum
Please note that page 11, lines 225 - 226 of this proposed legislation contains language that conflicts with Federal regulations requiring all students take either the general or alternate assessment. Since this is an exception to retention, possible language lawmakers may want to consider to resolve the conflict would be an amendment to read as follows: “A student with disabilities whose Individual Education Plan indicates participation in the alternate statewide summative assessment in lieu of the statewide general assessment.”
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Sonya J. White
Email Address: snjwhite@k12.wv.us