Joining other Rappahannock Co leaders (including superintendent of schools, county administrator, school board chair, education foundation, COSARS…), I earnestly request your support of both HB748 (Runion) and HB1059 (Webert), critical to our small, rural public schools, too long burdened by a unique in the Commonwealth disadvantage to our rural students, families, and employees. A limited tax base and protection of agriculture means lower revenue than the LCI allows here, with 80% from our locality cf. just 20% from the state. And yet, 50%+ of our public school population is eligible for school lunch and a high percentage of our aging population lives on very modest to fixed incomes. Rappahannock receives Virginia’s very lowest per-pupil operational funding while our citizens make the sixth highest local contribution in the state, with 88% of real estate revenue going to education. Our families can't pay more. While Ch 847 of the Acts of 2007 provided remedy for Bath, Highland, Rappahannock and Surrey, Ch 589 of the Acts of 2008 capped support for Rappahannock Co now stagnated for 18 years, though inflation has increased costs by 31%. Please support both HB748 and HB1059 to remove this arbitrary cap and ensure adequate public funding for our schoolchildren, no less deserving than any across our Commonwealth. Respectfully, Rosa Crocker (33 yrs and counting, local education advocate, including 15 yrs, RCPS board, 6 yrs LFCC/LRCC educational foundation)

I'm writing to strongly support HB 748 and HB1059 because they address a fundamental fairness issue that has affected our community for nearly two decades. In 2008, during the recession, the General Assembly placed a cap on Supplemental Basic Aid for newly eligible school divisions like ours. That cap has remained frozen at $1,126,380 for 17 years, even as inflation has increased costs by 31% over the same period. Today, Rappahannock County is the ONLY division still affected by this outdated restriction. Here's what makes this especially frustrating: according to the state's own fiscal stress calculations, we have the 13th highest revenue capacity in Virginia. But the reality on the ground is very different. We have no big box stores, no data centers, no major industry. The "wealth" that formulas attribute to us comes from agricultural land values and a small number of high-income residents — neither of which translates into revenue we can actually collect to fund our schools. The result? Rappahannock County receives the absolute lowest per-pupil operational funding from the Commonwealth in Virginia — $2,013 per student. Meanwhile, our citizens already contribute the sixth highest local contribution in the state at $15,230 per pupil, with 88% of real estate tax revenue going to education. Our families can't be asked to pay more. They're already carrying far more than their fair share. Removing the 2008 cap would provide approximately $1.02 million in additional state funding — enough to help us meet accreditation standards without overburdening our older-than-average citizens. This isn't special treatment. It's simply aligning state funding with the reality of what small rural divisions like ours can actually generate locally. I know comprehensive funding formula reform will take time. But HB 748 and HB1059 offer something we can do right now — lift an outdated cap that serves no purpose except to hold back one small county's ability to serve its students. Virginia's leaders have a chance to do right by Rappahannock County's children — not ten years from now, but today. Thank you for your consideration.

In their comprehensive educational funding review, JLARC identified that current funding formulas fail to adequately recognize the educational funding burden for the smallest of the small school divisions in the commonwealth. In fact, JLARC found that the smallest school divisions have costs that are 150% greater than typical school divisions due to the natural economies of scale. In Virginia, the absolute smallest school division (Highland) receives supplemental basic aid to recognize this inherent funding problem. Approximately four other tiny school divisions are eligible for the same supplemental basic aid funding, but unfortunately for all but Highland the funding source was capped at 2008 levels (18 years ago) rendering the source no longer viable due to the natural course of inflation. HB748 & HB1059 would update this old cap to once again provide assistance to the smallest of the small school divisions. Those interested in reading detailed information about this topic can review an open letter written by me and the Rappahannock County Public Schools Superintendent that was published in the Cardinal News on December 2, 2024: https://cardinalnews.org/2024/12/02/its-time-to-graduate-from-the-great-recession-era-school-funding-caps-an-opportunity-for-partnership-with-policymakers-to-bring-fair-funding-to-rappahannock-county-public-schools/