Initial Proposed Changes to How Schools Are Funded in DPS 1.

Initial Proposed Changes to How Schools Are Funded in DPS

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Initial Proposals for Discussion• We are presenting initial proposals for discussion. We look forward to input and

feedback in anticipation of our meeting on January 24. • Our proposals, with very few exceptions, do not suggest reducing the current

funding that any school receives• We are proposing to increase full-day kindergarten and total early childhood

education slots by at least 25% each this year, with more to follow next year. This expansion is not dependent on additional money from the proposed pension finance transaction.

• Our other proposals are to use the additional money we expect to receive from the pension financing to increase funds to those schools that are currently receiving fewer per pupil dollars as a result of historical funding formulas

• With additional pension funding, we propose increases in per pupil funding for – Secondary schools – Students in poverty– Special education/intervention strategies– Specialized services such as counselors and mental health professionals– Gifted and talented students

Initial Proposed School Funding Changes

DPS pays almost $800 more per student than other Colorado school districts for pension and retirement

Other Colo. Districts

DPS

*Based on numbers for 2007-2008. Includes retiree health benefits3

•This amounts to $50 million higher pension and retirement costs per year than other districts•All other districts in the state have been a part of PERA since 1943, the year districts were allowed to join

Dollars per Student per Year Paid Toward Pension and Retiree Obligations

Students in PovertyEnglish Language

Learners Special Ed Students

31%

11%9%

67%

36%

13%

Rest of State Denver Public Schools

The $50M extra spent on pension severely limits DPS’s ability to lower class sizes, pay competitive salaries, and meet the pressing educational needs of our students

* Students in poverty means Free or Reduced Lunch; ELL means English Language Learners** All data is from Colo. Dept of Ed. FRL data is from 2006-2007 School year. ELL and Special Ed data is from 2007-2008 school

year4

• A much greater fraction of DPS’s student population is in poverty, learning English and has special needs than other districts (see chart at right)

•DPS pension costs consume nearly 20% of the district’s general operating fund

• The district has had to cut nearly $83 million from its budget in the last 5 years

How Schools Currently Get Funded in DPS

Critical Points • The Student Based Budgeting (SBB) funds exclude many of our school-

specific expenses, like: – speech language itinerants – services for severe needs students– certain pension/retirement expenses– key instructional support services– school-based support services, like custodial, food services, grounds, transportation

• It is very misleading, therefore, to think of the SBB funds as the only money that goes to individual schools.

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Virtually All Schools Will Benefit From Proposed Changes

• Key point to note is that, with very few exceptions, we will not be taking money away from existing schools – we will be adding new dollars from the pension transaction first to those schools that have received less per pupil money in the past

• While we will be targeting a significant portion of new dollars from the pension transaction towards high-poverty students, all our students and schools will benefit from the increased funds

• All kids will benefit from the increase in full-day kindergarten and ECE funds

• All secondary school students will benefit from the increase in middle school and high school base funding

• All schools will benefit from the increase in gifted and talented funding• All schools will benefit from the increase in specialized services and

intervention services for mild/moderate students

Additional $4-5 million for full-day kindergarten

• Would increase full-day kindergarten offerings by 25%, so as many as 1,200 more kindergarten students will be able to attend full-day

• Money would come from 2003 Mill Levy and include some General Fund money• Additional money from the state is vital to achieving the goal of full-day

kindergarten

$7 million

$11-12 million

$3,249 $3,315

$3,202 $3,286

$3,098

$47

$151

Elementary K8 Middle 6-12 High School

Increase In Base Funding per StudentCurrent Funding Proposed Increase

SBB Allocations for Full-Day Kindergarten

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25-40% increase in preschool capacity

• Up to $5 million more for ECE; depending on facility availability• Would increase preschool offerings by between 25 and 40% in 2008-09, allowing up to 1,400 preschool

students to get more services this year, and by another 25% in 2009-10, for a total of nearly 3,000 • Money would come from the Denver Preschool Program• Nearly all of the 80 elementary and K-8 schools would expand kindergarten and or preschool offerings

$16 million

Up to $21 million

$3,249 $3,315

$3,202 $3,286

$3,098

$47

$151



SBB Allocations for Preschool

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$2.4 million more to raise per pupil base funding for secondary schools to same level as elementary schools

• Total additional spent in schools: $2.4 million from pension refinancing• Expected to help 21,000 students• Additional money dependent on pension financing transaction

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$3,249 $3,315

$3,202 $3,286

$3,098

$47

$151



$6.3 million more for low-income students

• Each school would receive $268 for every free lunch student grades 1-12 • Further, the schools with the highest concentration of poverty would receive an extra $134 per free lunch

student• Increase of $6.3 million for low-income students funded from pension money• Additional funds dependent on pension finance transaction

Elementary, K-8, Middle 6-12, High

SBB Allocation to Schools

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$268$268

$402 $402

$ 3 million more money for mild/moderate interventions and for special services

• Schools with a higher proportion of free and reduced lunch students would receive greater share of funding increase

• Additional funds depend on pension financing transaction$3,249 $3,315

$3,202 $3,286

$3,098

$47

$151



Proposed SBB Allocations for Mild/Moderate

$8.4 million

$1.3 million

$17.7 million

$1.5 million

Proposed SBB Allocations for Special Services

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Move to Per student funding for mild/moderate and special services

• Proposal would hold harmless schools that are currently above these per pupil levels• Low-income (Free or Reduced Lunch) students would receive 50% more funding for each

category: $351 for Mild/Moderate and $167 for Special Services

$234

$111

$117

$56

Mild/Moderate Special Services

Proposed per Student Funding Levels

All Students Additional for Low-Income Students

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Together, proposed budget changes target greater funding to low-income students

• State funding for “at-risk” students flows only to those qualifying for free lunch in grades 1-12

• Note that under the current system secondary schools (middle, 6-12 and high) receive only $70 per “at-risk” student

• Goal is that about 20 schools across the district would qualify for high-poverty status

$1,320

Maximum Targeted SBB Funding Per Low-Income Student

$400 $400

$268 $134

$167

$351

$134

Proposed Funding Current Funding

Additional Allocations for Low-Income Students

Title I At Risk Special Services Mild Moderate High Poverty School

High-Poverty School

Mild Moderate

Specialized Services

At-Risk

Title I

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35% more money for gifted students

$1.6 million

$2.2 million

• Funding for Gifted and Talented would increase by $95 per student• Additional funding dependent on pension finance transaction • High schools do not qualify for GT funding

$3,249 $3,315

$3,202 $3,286

$3,098

$47

$151



SBB Allocations

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Other Proposed Changes• Small school additional subsidy would be reduced by 25% next year and

25% following year– Small schools already receive extra funding in several of the categories, like

Gifted and Talented and 2003 Mill Levy Arts allocations– No reductions proposed for targeted small school subsidies; reductions in only

the small school additional subsidy

• SBB to RAM (School based budgeting to Resource Allocation Method) would be eliminated

– Board intention during last year’s budget discussion was that SBB to RAM would be eliminated this year

– Under current proposed changes, funding more than made up for in other categories

• Title I: schools with over 66% of the students qualifying for Free or Reduced Lunch would qualify for Title I money

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No further changes

• With the exception of the subjects on the previous pages, we are not recommending further changes in the budget this year

• No changes are recommended to funding for areas such as IB or Montessori programs

• Where schools receive additional funding for these programs, this funding will be taken into account when calculating new dollars these schools would otherwise receive and effectively offset against these new dollars

Initial Proposed Changes to How Schools Are Funded in DPS 1.

Documents

Transcript of Initial Proposed Changes to How Schools Are Funded in DPS 1.