EDLD+5342--Week+3

Part 4: The School Finance 101 resource provides valuable information about the FSP (Foundation School Program.) As stated in the document, the purpose of the program is to bring equity to districts that have different sources of funding.  The district that I currently work in receives approximately $75 million in total revenues. Of the total revenues, 24% are from the state, 67% are local, and 9% are federal. The revenue is then allocated into several different categories and functions. For instance, approximately $31 million is allocated into function 11 for instruction. Another area that receives a large allocation is under function 51 for district operations, which is $7.8 million. Function 71, Debt Service, receives an allocation of approximately $12.1 million. The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for ensuring that all revenue is allocated to cover the district’s projected expenditures.  The district’s summary of finance clearly illustrates how the revenue is allocated into operating expenditures and instructional expenditures. It should be noted that the documentation shows that nearly twice as much ($57 million) is spent on operating costs versus $32 million spent on instruction. This supports previous lecture and discussion items which indicate that districts usually spend approximately 80% of their budget on personnel, which falls under operations.