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62 Superintendent's Budget Messageim • Family Engagement: Improved communications by launching a new website with translation features; hired Family Liaisons who are bilingual at all schools to support family engagement; applied and was ac- cepted to the Flamboyan Foundation Fellowship in an effort to better engage our families; established a Es- sential Partners Committee with the faith-based community and business partners designed to improve out- reach to marginalized families; etc. Although great things were and continue to be accomplished, we realize much work lies ahead in service to children. The budget presented for your consideration requests the necessary funding to support our budget as follows: • Increase in charter enrollment of 34 students • Anticipated state mandated salary and benefit increases of 5.7% for certified staff(teachers) and 5.0% for non-certified staff • Operational cost increases to support the necessary service agreements for hotspots distributed to students lacking broadband connectivity, increased square footage with the Cedar Ridge High School wing addition and the necessary bilingual staff added to afford communication with our Spanish speaking families. • $985,800 in expansion budget to afford additional staff to better support students' academic and/ or SEL needs to address the impact of COVID including remediation, readiness and enrichment needs and the health and safety needs for students and staff. Additionally, we have incorporated several expansion budget items for consideration which will afford the district maximum use of the ESSER II and III funding anticipated later this fiscal year. Our current plan will utilize ESSER funding to support: • Improvement of teaching and learning through professional development and curriculum en- hancements to improve rigor and access • Increase staff s capacity to provide high quality literacy instruction across all content areas • Extended Learning Opportunities (i.e., Summer Scholars Program, Saturday Academy) • Opening of a new stand-alone virtual school--OCS Online Academy • Enhancing school-based staffing in support of student learning and well-being (i.e., school coun- selors, math coaches, interventionists, additional teacher assistants, etc.) • Possible reimagined choice programs • School-level grants to support the year-round customized needs identified by principals and their staff Orange County Commissioners have and continue to be responsive to our students' needs, but we continue to face new mandates at the state and federal level. Our budget request for the 2021-2022 school year includes $37.3 million in support of continued operations and $0.9 million in expansion requests for a total request of $38.3 million. This would require an increase in per pupil spending of$357.00. We believe the budget presented for your consideration aligns with the Orange Schools Strategic Plan and our continued focus on Equity, Literacy, Climate/Culture and SEL and Family Engagement. We look for- ward to the year ahead and celebrating the successes of our students, staff and families. Sincerely,