Financial Expenditures: Indicator Definitions

17) Current Expenditures Percentages (LEA): The Total PK-12 Current Expenditures percentages for the school district (LEA). Data shows the percentage spent in 5 categories.

(1) Direct Instruction (%): The percentage spent on direct instruction not including tuition payments.
(2) Student Services (%): Pupil support services. Salaries, benefits, supplies and contractual fees for staff providing attendance and social work, guidance and health related services to students.
(3) Staff Services (%): Instructional staff support services.
(4) Leadership Services (%): General and school administration.
(5) Operation & Maintenance (%): Expenses associated with salaries, benefits, supplies, contractual fees used for supervising plant operations and maintenance, costs for building operations (heating, lighting, ventilation, repair), grounds and vehicle repair and maintenance, and security measures. Student transportation services, food service operations, other Enterprise operations and other support services (salaries benefits, supplies and contractual fees for business and other support services) are also included.

Source: Summary of Annual Statistical Report of Schools (S.A.S.R.S), Vermont Department of Education

Considerations: This data is at the Local Education Agency (school district) level and may not be the school's actual expenditures. The percentages shown in Indicator 17 are the percentages of the expenditure dollars shown in Indicator 19, part (1).

18) Gross Education Dollars (LEA): Expenditures for the LEA (school district) are shown three ways:

(1) Total PK-12 Current Expenditures ($): Expenditures include direct instruction, student services, staff services, leadership services and operation and maintenance (See Indicator 17). It does not include tuition payments to other Vermont public school systems or to independent and out of state schools, community services, adult education, capital construction, land and existing structures, or equipment expenditures.
(2) Current Expenditures per Pupil ($): A full time equivalent student is calculated by summing the number of days of attendance and absence for each pupil and dividing by the total number of sessions days during the reporting period (normally a school year) for a student. A proration is made for students attending less than full-time.
(3) Total Expenditures (unduplicated) ($): Total PK-12 Current Expenditures plus community services and adult education, capital construction, land and existing structures, instructional equipment, other equipment, tuition, fees and assessments to Independent and out-of-state school systems and state agencies; and interest and principal payments on long-term debt. This does not include tuition, fees and assessments to other Vermont Public School Systems (See Indicator 19).

Source: Summary of Annual Statistical Report of Schools (S.A.S.R.S), Vermont Department of Education

19) Tuitions and Fees to Other Vermont Districts (LEA): Expenditures the LEA (school district) incurs utilizing the services of other Vermont districts.

Source: Summary of Annual Statistical Report of Schools (S.A.S.R.S), Vermont Department of Education

Considerations: The flow of funds within education are such that the same dollar of revenue to one Local Education Agency (LEA) may be passed along to another LEA (for example, as a Tuition or a Fee) and captured again as revenue a second time. Because certain tuition and fees can be duplicated in financial calculations, the LEA's tuitions and fees are shown as a separate indicator.

Vermont's educational governing structure is a unique blend of school districts, and overlapping authorities, and as such, the flow of tax dollars is very complicated. For example, State Revenues in the form of General State Aid, may be given to a town, but then passed on to either another town as a tuition, to a union school district as an assessment, or on to a supervisory union to pay for general administrative costs. Similarly, federal revenue may pass through the state, then to a supervisory union, before ultimately going to the town Local Education Agency (LEA) providing the service. This circuitous process makes isolating the actual cost of public education a difficult endeavor, requiring identification and elimination of any duplicate revenues reported by the LEA's.

20) K-12 Town Special Education Cost: The total town K-12 Special Education costs as reported on Special Education Expenditure Reports. This includes all costs eligible for special education formula funding formula reimbursement (State and local funds) as reported for the town which includes the town's share of cost for any union school and supervisory union of which it is a member.

Source: Vermont Department of Education Special Education Expenditure Reports

Considerations: These are town level data while other financial data is often at the school (LEA) level. This is the town Special Education Costs for Kindergarten through 12th grade plus any pre-school costs eligible for extraordinary reimbursement. Special education costs paid for by other towns for tuition students is deducted from the total cost to show the net cost for the town. Special Education costs covered by federal IDEA funds (about 4% of the total) are excluded as those costs are not generally reported by each town within the supervisory union. The costs also excludes the special education costs for State-Placed students which are reimbursed from the State Wards Appropriation.

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