Sarasota County Schools

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Sarasota County Schools

• Financial Advisory Committee Report

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Key Roles

• Oversight on budget/spending (volunteer/informal)
• Good business practices
• Sounding board for policy
• What do we get for what we spend?

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Key Findings

• Educational Quality Measures
• Budget Management
• Capital Budget

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Funding Sources
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Educational Quality

• One of eleven counties with incremental funding
• Student Achievement
• 2009 FCAT Scores Top 10 in Florida
• Reading Gains except Grade 10
• Math Gains except Grade 8
• Writing Top 3 in essay/30 point elementary gain
  since 2001

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Educational Quality

• Student Achievement (contd)
• District of Distinction
• 95 A Elementary Schools
• 86 A Middle Schools
• 84 A or B All Schools
• SAT Scores above State average
• 23 points in math
• 19 points in reading

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Educational Quality

• Student Achievement (contd)
• Record graduation rates
• 2007-2008 86
• 2008-2009 Not available
• All-time low drop-out rate
• 2007-2008 2.1
• 2008-2009 Not available

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Educational Quality

• Student Achievement (contd)
• Reading Gap White vs. Black closing

Year White Black Gap
Grade 3-5 2001 70 31 39 pts
Grade 3-5 2008 86 55 31 pts
Change 16 pts 24 pts
Grade 6-8 2001 65 23 42 pts
Grade 6-8 2008 75 43 32 pts
Change 10 pts 20 pts
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Educational Quality

• Student Achievement (contd)
• Math Gap White vs. Black closing

Year White Black Gap
Grade 3-5 2001 66 25 41 pts
Grade 3-5 2008 84 53 31 pts
Change 18 pts 28 pts
Grade 6-8 2001 75 53 22 pts
Grade 6-8 2008 92 86 6 pts
Change 17 pts 33 pts
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Educational Quality

• Resource Support
• Students per Staff
• Sarasota 7.4
• State 8.0
• Greater compliance with Class Size
• Sarasota 77.3
• State 72.9
• Student Allocation Greater
• Sarasota 7,450
• State 6,877

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Economic Considerations

• District shows declining to flat enrollment

FY End June 30 Reported/Estimated Enrollment Percent Change Value Change
2008 41,920 N/A N/A
2009 41,073 -2.00 -847
2010 41,112 .09 39
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Economic Considerations

• Slight shift in People Costs
• Recent Years show Impact of Economy on Bottom
  Line

Salary/Benefits Purchased Services Charter School Payments
2007 82.6 10.20 4.03
2010 79.7 12.84 6.93
Year Amount (000s) Change
2007 9,993 2.5
2008 2,801 .7
2009 -3,084 -.8
2010 -12,973 -3.25
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Economic Considerations

• 2006-2010 Voted Millage Investment Priorities

Investment Amount (mm) of Total
Salaries for Teachers 66.4 31.6
Program Enhancement 63.2 30.0
30 minutes added to day 55.3 26.2
Administration 14.0 6.7
Class Size (One Time) 11.4 5.4
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Return on Investment

• FCAT Performance Strong Correlation with
• A/B Schools - Student/Staff Ratio
• SAT Scores - Class Size
• Graduation Rate - Spending/Student
• Achievement Gaps Closing - Incremental Millage
• Not absolute proof but strong linkage
• Incremental instruction time impact
• Dont want to prove negative case

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Investments

• Use of COPs funding is prudent and productive
• 2009 76 million
• SCTI/Atwater Elementary
• 3.0 5.5 rates
• 2010 139 million
• Booker High School/Venice High School
• Bond Rating Strong AA/AA-/Aa3

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Investments

• Recent Federal Funding Pros Cons
• Non-Stimulus Federal Funding 23.9m
• Federal ARRA (Stimulus) Funding 29.1m
• Total 53.0m
• Anticipated ARRA funding for 2010-2011 is 14.7
  million.

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Reserve Position
Year of Budget
2007 12.52
2008 13.18
2009 12.74
2010 9.01
3 State Minimum
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Summary

• Sarasota County Schools rank at the top in
  Florida
• Voted millage has enabled education quality
  enhancements
• Decisions to maintain strong reserves have
  provided critical funding cushion
• Flexible financing has funded needed capital
  projects
• 80 of budget devoted to people costs implies
  constant effort for flexibility

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Priorities

• Incremental Millage Funding
• Rebuild Reserve Funds
• Develop Pay for Performance / Accountability
  Approach
• Identify Replacement Funding for Federal Funds
• Continue prudent use of Debt Financing for
  Capital Projects
• Maintain focus on teaching and learning