It is budget time again! DCSD is a rarity in terms of school
districts in that it allows schools to have a great deal of autonomy in how
they spend their budget dollars. Site-based budgeting gives local school
communities a greater voice in what personnel they want to hire, what
proportion of classroom teachers they want to have, and what programs they
would like to emphasize.
Now that the Colorado General Assembly, or state
legislature, has adjourned and school districts are receiving budget numbers,
questions are beginning again about school-based budgets and how those
allocations work. Using an actual elementary school budget from this current
school year, I will walk you through the way the district allocates money to
schools, and how a school might spend its budget on its own priorities.
It may be useful for you to consult the following infographics as you read. The information that follows is a narrative meant to accompany them.
Where do the dollar figures come from?
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The school begins with a worksheet and a base student-based
budget pupil allocation (SBBPA). This amount is $3,722. This is based on a
proportion of projected state funding. Although the legislature passes a budget
every spring, this can change at any time due to unforeseen circumstances. For
example, several years ago, the state rescinded $9M from DCSD toward the end of
the year because its projections exceeded the actual revenues and it could not
pay DCSD the full amount promised.
Every fall, enrollment is counted on October 1, or Count
Day. Budgets are completed before this date, but the actual count is where
schools reconcile their projections with their actual numbers and the final
budgets are set. Our notional school has 74 kindergarten students and 472
students in grades 1-6. Although the SBBPA will be the same, local mill levy
override dollars will be $30 additional per student in kindergarten, and $60
additional per student in grades 1-6.
The kindergarten total allocation is $277,648, and the total
for grades 1-6 is $1,785,104. Together these numbers add up to $2,062,752.
This is not the only funding available to the school,
however. The district provides
additional funding support in several forms. First, there are non-discretionary
allocations depending on the school and its needs. Needs such as Gifted and
Talented, Special Education, English Language, and Literacy are funded. These
are non-discretionary because they are either required by law, like special
education, or are otherwise a constrained expense. Non-discretionary funds add up to $701,156 at
our school.
Discretionary expenses are not necessarily positions or
expenses that the school would want to do without, but rather are those that
have a certain amount of flexibility. These include the principal, heath
assistant, and the volunteer coordinator. These positions can have varying
amounts of contract hours so that the dollar allocation for these is discretionary.
Total discretionary funds at this school are $135,244.
Other discretionary allocations are based on specific needs
such as the Student Success Act, which funds certain requirements laid out in
state law, and highly impacted school funds, meant to alleviate issues caused
by circumstances beyond a school’s control (e.g. small size). These funds add
up to $52,300.
The sum of these different line items:
$2,062,752 [SBBPA Total]
$701,156 [Non-Discretionary]
$135,244 [Discretionary]
$52,300 [Other Additional Discretionary]
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$2,951,452 [Total]
How is the school choosing to spend its allocation?
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In its budget worksheet, the school lays out its chosen
expenditures. A single FTE accounts for 2,080 hours per year. Using this
calculation, schools lay out personnel in terms of FTEs while giving each
individual a line item. They will have 37 classroom teachers (31.95 FTE), 3
administrators and 1 administrative intern (3.047 FTE), and 16 classified staff
such as office support and classroom aides (6.73 FTE). Some teachers and almost
all support staff are part-time, enabling the school to hire more individuals
than FTE and thus being able to meet its needs. Total FTE are 41.73.
Additional expenses include instructional supplies ($92,247;
printing, textbooks, etc.) and support services ($5,000; phone costs, mileage,
etc.). With these expenditures, the $2,951,452 is spent.
The school, however, has a few small additional funding
sources at its disposal. Full-day kindergarten tuition proceeds and before/after
school care fees add up to $221,301 that the school may keep and decide how to
spend. This adds up to $405 per student in non-SBB dollars. The school chose to
pay an additional 2 FTEs entirely from this money, as well as contributions to
four more teacher salaries and one educational assistant with special training.
The total is 3.12 FTE spread out among seven positions. Additionally, $7,890
dollars for supplies will be allocated from this pool.
The total amounts are as follows, district-funded and
school-funded.
41.72 FTE + 3.12 FTE = 44.85 FTE Total
$2,951,452 + $221,301 = $3,172,753 Total
The dollar figure per FTE is $70,748. Per student, the
dollar figure is $5,811.
From all tax revenue sources, both local and state-based,
the 2014-15 funding is $6,764 per pupil, or the per pupil revenue figure (PPR).
This means that the dollars per student, as a percentage of state PPR, is
$5,811/$6,764, or 86%. Taking away the school-raised dollars, the dollars per
student as a percentage of PPR—from district PPR sources—add up to
$5,406/$6,764, or 80%.
This means at least eight of every ten dollars that comes to
the district gets passed through to the schools. We believe that schools can
make informed decisions about their individual needs based on input from their
teachers, parents, and community. As the budget process continues over the
course of the next month until final approval, I look forward to conversations
with taxpayers about these important priorities.
