RD322 - Virginia Department of Education Review of Possible Changes in State Policies to Reduce the Administrative Burden on School Divisions and the Department of Education - November 2009


Executive Summary:
The 2009 General Assembly added language to Item 140 of the Appropriation Act requiring the Department of Education to review state laws, regulations, and procedures and submit a report by November 1, 2009. Specifically, Item 140.C.5.d. 4) states:

The Department of Education shall review state laws, regulations, and procedures that could be modified, reduced, or eliminated in an effort to minimize the administrative burden on local school divisions and the Department of Education. The findings from this review shall be submitted to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by November 1, 2009.

In response to this mandate, the Department held a number of meetings to review each school division reporting requirement and its associated law, regulation, and/or procedure. Each requirement was reviewed to determine:

• whether the reporting requirement was needed for state and/or federal reporting or funding purposes;

• whether the reporting requirement needed to continue in its current form in order to meet certain timelines for reporting or funding;

• whether the reporting requirement could be consolidated with an existing report; and

• whether the reporting requirement could be eliminated with an understanding that relevant information would still be available to stakeholders upon request.

Since the beginning of2009, the Department has been reviewing all reports submitted by school divisions to determine the need for each report and whether opportunities for consolidation or elimination exist. As a result of its review, the Department has examined a total of 99 reports and has determined that:

• eight reports can be eliminated;
• 34 reports could be or have been consolidated into existing data collections; and
• 57 reports must be retained because of state and/or federal reporting and funding requirements.

The Department will continue to:

• modify or eliminate unnecessary or out-of-date reporting requirements;
• consolidate other reporting requirements to permit local school divisions to submit one, rather than multiple reports;
• examine Board regulations for additional opportunities that will reduce regulatory.