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Mr. Nelson Fialho/Mr. David Haglund Page 24 Preliminary Issues Assessment of Potential Colocation of Maintenance Facilities CASE STUDY 2 Agencies: City of Manassas and Manassas City Public Schools (Virginia) Project: Shared services, including use of Public Works Compound Background In the Commonwealth of Virginia there is a clear distinction between cities and towns. Towns operate much like cities in other states in that they are part of a county and look to county government to provide certain services. Cities in Virginia are consid ered co-equal to counties and are responsible for all local services, including schools. Manassas, located in Prince William County, was founded as a town in 1873. In 1974, in response to a movement to improve local schools and public safety services, Manassas separated from the county and established itself as an independent city . City government and education have been closely entwined ever since. As a city, Manassas has a responsibility to help fund the local school district, which provides kindergarten through twelfth grade education and whose boundaries are coterminous with city limits. Virginia schools are funded partially by the state, with local government providing the rest. The City of Manassas funds roughly 50% of the Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS) annual budget. Over time, in addition to the direct funding allocated in the city’s budget, the sharing of services between city and school district became the norm. The arrangements resulted largely from handshake agreements, but with the impending retirement of the sch ool superintendent, Manassas City Manager Patrick Pate proposed codifying these arrangements in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In the fall of 2017, the City and MCPS appointed a Joint Facilities Use Committee (consisting of two members of the City Council and two members of the School Board) to draft an MOU for Shared Services between City of Manassas (City) and Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS). The Joint Facilities Use Committee met four time s in the Fall of 2017 to develop and review the document. The MOU was approved by the City on November 13, 2017 and by MCPS on December 12, 2017. The MOU lists the following services to be provided by the City: • Remove snow from school parking lots, bus loops and sidewalks in front of schools. • Mow and maintain school grounds, except for sports fields. • Share capital improvement costs to certain school facilities; maintain playground equipment. • Provide space at city Public Works Compound for school bus parking, a trailer for drivers, office space and storage space. MCPS to pay direct expenses (i.e. utilities) for MCPS facilities. • Install and maintain flashing crossing signs at schools, paid for by MCPS.