SAD 46 ED281 Page One Parsed!

This is a pretty darn interesting document.

What? You say you hate numbers? Are you sure?

Give these a try!

The form ED281 indicates what the State is going to send to a District and why; that is, it presents the calculations (or rationale) for how it computes the State allocation.

Here's page one of the SAD 46 ED281 for the current year. Click on the sheet below to enlarge the numbers.
First on this page we get the numbers of students at each level.

In the next section, we first see the numbers of staff allowed at each level under the EPS formula.

For example, for our number of K-5 students (464.5) and the EPS ratio of 17 students per teacher, we should, by the EPS formula, have 27.3 teachers. Following the line across, by the EPS formula figures we should have a total of 64.4 teachers for our K-12 system; in fact we have 74.2 teachers.

The ratio of teachers we should have to those we do have is computed (87%). This percentage is then applied to the total of teacher salaries ("EPS Tot Salary"), with the resulting number being what is allowed under the EPS formula.

So, total teacher salaries are $3,228,326. EPS allows 87% of this, or $2,808,643. This number doesn't show explicitly, but can be arrived at by totaling the Elementary Salary ($1,797,532) and the Secondary Salary ($1,011,112).

We've used the teacher line as an example, but you can follow through the other lines.

Especially by focusing on the EPS FTE versus the actual FTE, with its resulting ratio, you can see how we stand relative to the EPS standards.

So, in teachers, we're overstaffed by roughly 13%. In Guidance, Library, and Health we're understaffed. In Ed Techs we're quite understaffed, and in Library Techs, Clerical, and Administration we're overstaffed.

Or so the formula would indicate. If you trust the formula.

"Other Support Costs (Per Pupil)" are of interest, especially "System Administration/Support" and "Operations and Maintenance". These are two of the areas that will be cut by 5% in the next fiscal year, by law.

Reading to the end of the line, then, we see that these areas total $1,422,962 ($369,562 administration plus $1,053,400 operations). Therefore a 5% cut, were it applied to the numbers from this fiscal year, would be $71,148. We'll come back to this number as, on succeeding pages, we come to figures for additional areas which will also be cut by 5%.

Finally, I call your attention to the lower left-hand corner of this sheet, where benefits for District employees, broken into categories, are expressed as a percentage: Teachers 19%, Ed Techs 36%, Clerical 29%, and Administrators 14%.

The ED281 is a four-page form. What I've put up here is just page one. Succeeding posts will work through the rest of the form. I'll bet you can hardly wait!