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Orange County Public Schools is gearing up for the 2008 Triennial School Census of school-age children.  The triennial census count is used to distribute state sales tax proceeds to school divisions as part of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s funding formula for public schools.  Dr. William Crawford, Superintendent of Orange County Public Schools as well as Bill Rolfe, Orange County Administrator are urging all residents of Orange County to respond to the survey, regardless of whether you have children enrolled in Orange County Public Schools.

“It is important for all families with school-age children to respond to the census, even if their children attend private or parochial schools or are home-schooled,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannaday Jr.  “If a school division receives less than its fair share of sales tax revenue, then the locality has to draw more deeply from resources that otherwise could be used to support other services.”

The commonwealth returns 1.125 percent of the revenue collected through the five percent state sales and use tax to localities to support public education, which is approximately $1.1 billion for the current fiscal year.  The money is distributed based on the number of school-age children (ages 5-19) counted during the triennial census.  Orange County Public Schools received approximately $4.4 million for the 2006-07 school year. These monies are used for curriculum and instruction, maintenance, operations, capital projects and debt services. 

State law designates January 1 through July 15 as the period for school divisions to conduct the census.  Orange County Public Schools will begin distributing information – including census forms and instructions to households on April 14^th. Census information and forms will also be available on this website (See the links on the left).  All forms should be completed and returned no later than July 15^th.  The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has directed Orange County Public Schools to report a summary count of all persons ages 5 – 19 residing within Orange County no later than August 15^th.

Included on the census form this year is a survey about the type of dwelling Orange County citizens reside in.  The accurate responses to this will assist the county and school system in determining how many children are “generated” per housing type (single family dwelling, townhome, multi-family dwelling).  This will help in planning for future school and county needs.