Pursuant to the requirements of Section 22.1-97, Code of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Education collected data from school divisions on the actual local funding effort in support of the Standards of Quality for fiscal year 2020, through the 2019-2020 Annual School Report Financial Section (ASRFIN). School divisions were also required to certify that local funds were at the required level in support of the Standards of Quality for fiscal year 2021. All school divisions met the requirement as of the time of this report.

This report provides the results of calculations made to ensure that each school division has expended sufficient local funds to support its required local effort. The purpose of required local effort is to ensure that each school division has sufficient local operational expenditures to support its local share of the cost of the Standards of Quality. Fiscal year 2020 calculations are based on actual local operational expenditures.

Item 136, Chapter 1283, 2020 Virginia Acts of Assembly waived all required local effort and required local match obligations for fiscal year 2020.

Item 145, Chapter 56, 2020 Special Session I Acts of Assembly, requires divisions to certify “that sufficient local funds have been budgeted to meet all state required local effort and required local match amounts." All school divisions certified that they have budgeted local operational funds sufficient to meet budgeted required local effort for fiscal year 2021. School divisions whose local appropriations for fiscal year 2021 are only slightly in excess of the amount required to maintain local effort for the Standards of Quality have been advised to review their average daily membership on a monthly basis during the fiscal year to ensure sufficient local appropriations are available based on current enrollment levels.

For fiscal year 2021, all school divisions submitted the required information to certify their budgeted required local match for Incentive and Lottery accounts (i.e., At-Risk, Virginia Preschool Initiative, K-3 Primary Class Size Reduction, Math/Reading Instructional Specialist Initiative, and Early Reading Specialists Initiative). All school divisions certified that they have budgeted local operational funds sufficient to meet budgeted required local match for all Incentive and Lottery-funded accounts in which they have elected to participate in fiscal year 2021.