Chesterfield School Board votes for aid census

The Chesterfield County School Board voted unanimously last night to collect data on students who are children of active-duty military personnel and federally employed parents.

The information will be used to apply for annual grants expected to bring up to $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Education's Impact Aid program.

The program pays school districts for students who are children of active-duty personnel and parents living in Chesterfield and employed on any federal property in Virginia.

The number of county students connected to the military expansion at Fort Lee is expected to grow.

The funds are provided to offset the loss of revenue to the locality because of the federal installation, Dale C. Kalkofen, Chesterfield's assistant superintendent for instructional support, told the board.

"We felt that this is the right time to bring [the proposal] forward," she said.

This is the first time that the system has applied for the aid, Kalkofen said. Previously, collecting the data was considered too expensive and submitting to federal audits too time-consuming, she said.

"Now we believe that we have reached the point where we would receive enough money to offset the cost," Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome said.

The district will conduct a survey in October and each year following to identify such students. The survey will be conducted through multiple methods, including the Web, ParentLink and the schools.

A ZIP code check earlier this year identified 1,258 children of active-duty Army personnel living in Chesterfield, said Tina M. Collins, school liaison officer for Fort Lee.

Additionally, Base Realignment and Closure Commission planners have forecast that about 31 percent of the 15,000 personnel new to Fort Lee will settle in Chesterfield as the base expands over the next few years.

Kalkofen said Virginia Employment Commission data shows about 6,000 federal employees living in the county.

Based on the estimated number of eligible students, the school district expects to get at least $500,000 in impact aid each year. The total could increase with other grants. If the school system is eligible for aid, school officials would work with the U.S. Department of Education to determine what requirements would be placed on the funds.

Catherine Schagh, director of the federal Impact Aid program, said the average grant can vary considerably.

In fiscal 2009, payments for military-dependent students have averaged $1,316 per child, she said. "This includes both on-base and off-base students. The national average for civilian-dependent students is $103."

For example, Schagh said, Prince George County schools received an average of $2,210 per on-base military dependent student and $442 per off-base military dependent student.

Prince George has budgeted $2.7 million in military impact aid for the 2009-10 school year.

The Dinwiddie County school district applied for an impact aid grant but did not qualify.

The Chesterfield application will be submitted in February, Kalkofen said.
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .