Committee of the Whole Public Hearing

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 CHAIRMAN PHIL MENDELSON COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ANNOUNCES A PUBLIC HEARING on Bill 24-570 “Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021” and Bill 24-571 “Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021” on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 10:30am Live via Zoom Video Conference Broadcast Chairman’s Website (www.ChairmanMendelson.com/live) Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announces a public hearing of the Committee of the Whole on Bill 24-570, the “Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021” and Bill 24-571, the “Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021.” The hearing will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 10:30am via Zoom Video Conference Broadcast. Bills 24-570 and 24-571 are aimed at changing the way we budget for schools. Year over year DCPS schools experience budget cuts, disrupting their ability to effectively plan for staffing, programs, and services that students need consistently. Bill 24-570 is a prescriptive approach to revise the method for school budgeting for DCPS by budgeting the local schools first based on each school’s previous year’s budget, adjusting for inflation, with the remainder to be allocated between central administration and school support. The stated purpose of Bill 24-571 is to require, simply, that each year’s annual budget for each local school within DCPS is no less than that school’s budget for the current school year. The goal of both bills with their differing approach is to better protect schools from reductions in funding and to provide a stable foundation upon which schools can plan for meeting their students’ needs. Relevant to these bills, DCPS recently released a new budget model, with little transparency about how the models will impact school-level budgets, to the dismay of many education stakeholders and constituents. The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony from DCPS and the public on Bills 24-570 and 24-571 and the need for better budgeting to adequately support and stabilize our local schools. Those who wish to testify must register at http://www.ChairmanMendelson.com/testify by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. Testimony is limited to 3 minutes. Witnesses who anticipate needing spoken language interpretation, or require sign language interpretation, are requested to inform the Committee office of the need as soon as possible but no later than five business days before the proceeding. We will make every effort to fulfill timely requests, although alternatives may be offered. Requests received in less than five business days may not be fulfilled. If you have additional questions, please email cow@dccouncil.us or contact Destiny Riley, Committee Assistant, at (202) 724-8196. The hearing will be conducted virtually on the Internet utilizing Zoom video conference technology. Testimony should be submitted in writing to cow@dccouncil.us in advance of the hearing. Written testimony will be posted publicly to http://www.chairmanmendelson.com/testimony. If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Statements for the record should be submitted to cow@dccouncil.us or left by voicemail by calling (202) 430-6948 (up to 3 minutes which will be transcribed). The record will close at 5:00pm on Friday, February 4, 2022.