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Virginia Department of Planning and Budget

Frequently Asked Questions

About Virginia's School Efficiency Review Program

1) How does my school division volunteer?

The Superintendent or the School Board Chairman (with the consent of the Board) should contact John Ringer (john.ringer@dpb.virginia.gov) to volunteer. At the start of each school year, the volunteer school divisions are taken on a 'first-come, first served' basis and completed until the money for that year is exhausted.

2) Who performs the reviews?

The Virginia Department of Planning and Budget manages the School Efficiency Review program. Using funds appropriated by the General Assembly, DPB hires educational consulting firms to conduct these reviews. DPB is careful to select firms with experience in performing this type of work with local school divisions.

3) What areas do the reviews cover?

The reviews cover the following major areas:

• Divisional administration
• Human resources
• Finance
• Purchasing
• Educational service delivery costs
• Special education
• Facilities
• Transportation
• Technology Management
• Food Service

4) Isn't the job of the Standards of Learning (SOLs) to review the effectiveness of school divisions?

Yes, the role of the SOLs is to assess the effectiveness of K-12 education in Virginia. This program is designed to increase the efficiency of education in volunteer school divisions. While the SOLs evaluate whether students are learning what they need to learn, this program evaluates how well the school division is managing the non-instructional side of its operations and asks questions such as 'How could the school division save money through increased energy efficiency in buildings?'

5) Are school divisions required to implement the recommendations in the reports? Also, please explain the financial obligations.

The reports contain recommendations. The Superintendent and School Board of the division undergoing the review decide which of the recommendations to implement, in what order, and if they want to implement them exactly as the consultant recommended or if they want to change it slightly. They also have the power to ignore a recommendation if they feel it is not in the best interest of their division.

However, the General Assembly has created requirements for implementation of recommendations. The goal of these requirements is to ensure that reviews are used for improvement and do not 'sit on the shelf.'

The Code of Virginia requires a school division to pay a share of the costs of a school review. The specific financial obligations for a division are as follows:

An initial local share of 25% of the costs of the school efficiency review:

• Applies to all school divisions that have volunteered for a review commencing in fiscal year 2007 except for those who have elected to participate in a school efficiency review as a component unit of a division level academic review

• Payment shall occur in the fiscal year immediately following the completion of the final school efficiency review report

• The local share is paid into the general fund of the state treasury

• Given the costs of previous reviews, this portion of the financial obligation may be in the range of $20,000-$30,000. This amount is determined at the time of the contract

A recovery local share of 25% of the costs of the school efficiency review if the school division does not initiate at least half of the recommendations or experience half of the budgetary savings offered in the review.

• Applies to all school divisions that have volunteered for a review commencing in fiscal year 2007

• Payment shall occur in the fiscal year beginning not less than 12 months and not more than 24 months following the release of a final efficiency review report for an individual school division

• Such recovery shall occur if the affected school division superintendent or superintendent’s designee has not certified that at least half the recommendations have been initiated or at least half of the equivalent savings of such efficiency review have been realized

• This recovery cost is assessed if the school division does not certify that they have initiated at least half of the recommendations or experienced half of the budgetary savings offered in the review

• Most school divisions initiate the vast majority of recommendations in some form or another so to date, no school divisions have been required to pay this additional recovery cost

• The local share is paid into the general fund of the state treasury

6) Please explain the financial obligations for a division that has elected to participate in a school efficiency review as a component unit of a division level academic review.

Any school division electing to participate in a school efficiency review as a component unit of a division level academic review is exempt from the 25 percent payment of the costs of the review but is not exempt from paying a recovery cost of 25 percent if the school division does not initiate at least 50 percent of the review's recommendations within 24 months of receiving their final school efficiency review report.

Payment shall occur in the fiscal year immediately following the completion of the final school efficiency review report. The cost shall include the direct cost incurred by the state for that fiscal year to coordinate the school efficiency review and the costs awarded to the contractor(s) to conduct that school division’s review.

7) What do the costs of the school efficiency review include?

• Costs of the school efficiency review include the direct cost incurred by the state for that fiscal year to coordinate the school efficiency review and the costs awarded to the contractor(s) to conduct that school division’s review.

• In 2007, the first year of this requirement, the local share of the direct cost incurred by the state for that fiscal year to coordinate the school efficiency review ranged from about $1,400 to $2,700.

• The local share of the costs awarded to the contractor ranged from $21,000 to $30,000.

• School divisions participating in fiscal year 2007, were billed for total local shares ranging from $23,000 to $29,000.


• The local share is paid into the general fund of the state treasury

8) Please explain the role of DPB.

DPB staff:

• Oversee the school review program and work collaboratively with the school divisions and the contract consultants to ensure that a thorough and professional review is conducted under the terms and conditions of the contract.

• Provide analysis of the program to the Governor and General Assembly on the outcomes and performance of the program.

• Track and report their time spent editing and administering each school review. This time tracking is used to determine the direct cost incurred by the state for that fiscal year to coordinate the school efficiency review.

• Track and report the school divisions’ implementation of report recommendations and budgetary savings.

9) How long does a review take?

A normal school efficiency review takes about six to seven months to complete. The review normally ends with a presentation of the report and its findings to the School Board.

10) What happens during a review?

A review begins with a kick-off meeting between the consultant, DPB, and the Superintendent. The consultant then sends the Superintendent a lengthy data request list. The division staff will need to furnish documents and data for analysis. The review includes on-site visits from consultants, analysis of data collected from the school division, and report writing and editing. The Superintendent has a chance to read and edit the report for accuracy before its release.

11) What happens after a review?

After a review, the review report becomes the property of the school division, and is released to the public. The report is posted on the Department of Education’s website at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/efficiencyreview.html.

School divisions certify to DPB that they are implementing report recommendations and experiencing budgetary savings at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years following the release of the report. DPB supplies the form used to track the school division’s implementation.

School divisions receive an invoice from DPB for the initial local share the fiscal year immediately following the completion of the final report.

If a school division does not implement at least half of the review recommendations or realize at least half of the budgetary savings, DPB sends an invoice for the recovery cost of 25% of the costs of the school efficiency review to be paid between 12 months and 24 months following the release of a final efficiency review report.

12) How does DPB calculate the division savings reported on their website?

DPB calculates the annual average savings reported on the DPB website by:
1) Adding the five year net savings and the one-time net savings
2) Dividing this total by five

13) Where can I find further information?

The above answers are for informational purposes only. Please consult contact John Ringer (john.ringer@dpb.virginia.gov) with the Department of Planning and Budget for current requirements. School efficiency review reports are posted on the Department of Education’s website at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/efficiencyreview.html.