Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso

Chairperson of the Committee on Education

Committee of the Whole
Public Hearing on B23-488, the “Student Activity Fund Theatrical and Music
Performance Expenditures Act of 2019”,
B23-569, the “District of Columbia Public Schools Family and School Community
Fundraising Equity Act of 2019” and B23-365, the “Critical Risk Rate School
Funding Designation Act of 2019”
March 10, 2020

I am David Grosso, Chairperson of the Committee on Education, and I am calling to order this
joint hearing of the Committee on Education and the Committee of the Whole.

I want to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the traditional land of the
Anacostan People of the Piscataway Tribe.

Today’s hearing is on: B23-0488, the “Student Activity Fund Theatrical and Music Performance
Expenditures Act of 2019” introduced by Councilmember Cheh; B23-0569, the “District of
Columbia Public Schools Family and School Community Fundraising Equity Act of 2019”
introduced by myself along with Councilmember Gray; and B23-0365, the “Critical Risk Rate
School Funding Designation Act of 2019” introduced by Councilmembers Trayon White,
Robert White, and Nadeau.

I want to speak briefly about each bill before we go into the public witnesses.
B23-0488, the “Student Activity Fund Theatrical and Music Performance Expenditures Act
of 2019”
On October 8, 2019 Councilmember Cheh introduced this bill which establishes that
expenditures on school-administered theatrical and music performances shall be an allowable
expenditure from a school's Student Activity Fund.

Currently law does not allow money from the Student Activity Fund to be used as stipends for
DCPS or non-DCPS employees nor does it allow for revenue raised from performances to be
used to pay for services.

This law aims to allow that.

B23-0569, the “District of Columbia Public Schools Family and School Community
Fundraising Equity Act of 2019”
On December 3, 2019, I introduced this bill to establish parameters for fundraising by family
and school community organizations like PTOs, in order to address funding inequities that are
contributing to disparate academic experiences and outcomes in the District. \

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In 2018, the 74 Million reported that DC parent-teacher organizations raised more than $5.5
million for only a quarter of DCPS elementary schools. This revenue equates to almost an
additional full-time teacher or three additional instructional aides for each DCPS elementary
school.

The schools whose PTOs brought in the least revenue- less than $60,000 on average- had an
average of 74 percent economically disadvantaged students. Seventy-five percent of
elementary schools did not report any PTO revenue.

Well-funded DCPS PTOs are supporting essential school needs like staffing and instructional
materials. Specifically, they are hiring grant writers, full-time tutors, and instructional aides.
These employees are not DCPS employees, which raises concerns about safety, accountability,
and liability.

Bill 23-0569 aims to address these funding inequities by requiring PTOs to submit annual
budgets to DCPS; prohibiting PTOs from expending funds to hire instructional staff members;
prohibiting PTOs from requesting specified donation amounts from family members, including
donations required for family members to vote in PTO-related measures; and establishing a
DCPS Equity Fund to aggregate equity fees from PTOs that expend over $10,000 in monetary
and in-kind value. These fees will then be distributed in an equitable fashion to DCPS PTOs.

Finally, B23-0365, the “Critical Risk Rate School Funding Designation Act of 2019”

This bill was introduced on June 25, 2019 by Councilmembers Trayon White, Robert White, and
Brianne Nadeau.

As introduced, the bill would create a new weight in the universal per student funding formula
for schools that have an at risk student population of 70 percent or above.

The Deputy Mayor for Education has submitted written testimony on this bill and my
understanding is that Dr. Maisterra is prepared to answer questions on this bill.

It is disaponiting that the DME is not here to answer follow up questions on his testimony.

I look forward to the public engagement today and learning what recommendations witnesses
have on how we can improve the legislation before us.
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