In accordance with Item 145, Paragraph B.14, Chapter 1289, 2020 Acts of Assembly (the Appropriation Act), the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB), in coordination with the Department of Education (DOE), has prepared the annual report on updates to the cost of the Standards of Quality (SOQ) based upon the most current data available for the 2020-2022 biennium. Because this session will amend the current budget and does not involve the re-benchmarking process, changes in the SOQ costs are limited and primarily include only technical updates based on revisions to data used to determine the costs.

This report includes four types of data updates to SOQ funding for fiscal years 2021 and 2022:

1. Update of sales tax revenues for public education based on the Virginia Department of Taxation's preliminary 2020 GACRE forecast;

2. Update of the latest yearly estimate of school age population provided by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service for the distribution of sales tax revenues to school divisions;

3. Update of the Lottery Proceeds Fund estimate based on the Virginia Lottery's most recent forecast; and

4. Update of Fall Membership and Average Daily Membership projections based on September 30, 2020, Fall Membership data adjusted for amendments passed by the General Assembly at its 2020 Special Session I.