By Lauren Northington

Richmond Public Schools is stuck in a system of inefficiencies based largely on state and federal funding guidelines and operational decisions made years ago.

That’s the overarching finding of an independent budget analysis of the city school system that was presented Monday night at a town hall meeting at Virginia Union University.

More than 100 people crowded VUU’s Living and Learning Center for the hourlong meeting during which Lina Bankert, a partner at the Washington-based Bellwether Educational Partners, presented findings of the consulting group’s six-week study that show budget constraints have limited innovation in the city’s schools.

The chief issue, Ms. Bankert said, is that the state and federal governments, which partially fund each of the state’s 134 school districts, consider Richmond a “wealthy” city based on the city’s property values and the adjusted gross income of people who work in the city.

As a result of this high ability to pay rating, Ms. Bankert said, the city receives significantly less funding for city schools even though so many of its students are considered high need.

According to the study, in fiscal year 2016, the City of Richmond funded 41 percent of the RPS’ roughly $350 million operating budget, while the state provided 31 percent and the federal government 19 percent. The remaining 7 percent comes from Virginia sales tax allocated toward schools, according to the report. The report noted that 2 percent of the RPS budget comes from private donations and grants.

For fiscal years 2016 through 2018, the Virginia Department of Education determined the city should be able to fund 48 percent of the total RPS budget.

Comparatively, Norfolk, Newport News and Portsmouth city governments provide only 29, 28 and 25 percent, respectively, of the operating costs of public schools in those cities, which were considered by the consultants as peer school districts based on demographic similarities of students.

Additionally, state funding for city education has declined continuously in recent years, dropping from $136 million in the 2009 fiscal year to $123 million in the 2016 fiscal year, even though student enrollment has increased.

The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

The bottom line, according to Richmond Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden, is that people who earn their money in Richmond and can afford to pay assessments or supplemental fees for education live in the surrounding counties.

“This is a challenge I’ve seen in every state in which I’ve worked,” Dr. Bedden said in response to the consultant’s finding.

“As the capital city, we have to try and get the people who work and bring commerce into the city to also live here and build our capacity as a school system,” he said.

The problem is that many people who work, play and do business in the city move to the counties to avoid sending their children to Richmond’s public schools, particularly once their children reach middle school, according to the study. What remains is largely students with high need in a school system with fewer resources, the consultants found.

The question now, said Dr. Bedden, is how to encourage people who work in Richmond to live and educate their children in Richmond.

The study also highlighted several “key budget drivers,” or areas within the budget that are driving up the school system’s operating costs. Among them, according to the study, are small schools, schools that are under capacity, small class sizes and old buildings and facilities.

On the elementary level, RPS’ class sizes are in line with peers and neighboring counties including Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield, the study explained. But on the middle school and high school levels, class sizes plummet. As a result, the city spends roughly $2,000 more per pupil per year than its peer districts.

Operating small schools also significantly drives up cost, said Ms. Bankert.

For example, the study showed that Broad Rock Elementary on the city’s South Side had an enrollment of 885 students for the 2015-2016 school year and spent $5,400 per student. By comparison, Swansboro Elementary, also located on the city’s South Side with an almost identical student profile, had an enrollment of only 256 students but cost $10,700 per student to operate last year.

“Every school needs a principal, teachers and support staff and a building,” Ms. Bankert explained. “Schools simply can’t operate without those critical but costly functions.” The salaries and operating costs all add up, particularly in several of the city’s schools that operate well-below capacity and have small class sizes.

“The district is also currently operating very old buildings that will need to be updated,” she continued.

The report also highlighted the added cost of educating economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. Seventy-eight percent of the city’s students, or more than four out of five Richmond students, are considered economically disadvantaged compared to roughly 30 percent of students in Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield.

Eighteen percent of the city’s students are also considered disabled compared to only 12 percent of students in the neighboring and three peer school districts.

The report also highlighted several budget recommendations the school system has implemented since 2012 to improve efficiency and better serve students. The actions also were designed to decrease operating expenditures. Among them were decreasing retirement contributions and employee benefits for employees, reducing salaries and bonuses and re-contracting for external services.

The actions reduced the city schools’ operating budget by $22 million from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2014, the report stated, even while enrollment grew by 600 students during that period.

The School Board also considered several other strategies for improving its financial efficiency, including reducing the school year, reducing or eliminating pre-school and outsourcing transportation and facilities management which would have had significant impacts on the budget, the report stated.

The Robert Bobb Group, a Washington-based consulting group headed by former Richmond City Manager Robert Bobb, brought in most of the recommendations in 2012, according to Dr. Bedden.

The cost of the Bellwether study was $65,000. Of that, $5,000 was paid by RPS, $5,000 was paid by the city and the rest of the cost was covered by The Community Foundation, the Robins Foundation and several community partners, according to Dr. Bedden.

How RPS intends to use the information is up for discussion among the School Board. It is also unclear if Bellwether, which, according to its website, works to improve educational equity particularly for “low income students and students of color,” will be a part of any next steps.

“The study was not conducted to provide workable recommendations,” said Ms. Bankert, “but to provide a third party look at all the stakeholders affected by the budget,” she told the Free Press.

“We hope to support a productive dialogue around Richmond’s collective investment in a district that supports outstanding student outcomes through efficient and effective schools. RPS is not just about RPS; it’s about the city, community and all of you.”