Good return on investment
John Heim
Thursday, July 5, 2007
AS WE BEGIN the final stages of preparing a new school district budget, the release of the Standard & Poor’s efficiency study results provides strong evidence that taxpayers are getting a good return on their investment in K-12 education in Emporia .
The 98.67 percent efficiency rating from Standard & Poor’s combined with an A3 bond rating from Moody’s Investor Services are solid indicators of the district’s healthy financial position. Both Moody’s and S & P are reputable companies whose ratings are respected by financial experts. The bond rating established last spring was based in part on our level of contingency reserves, according to our bond consultants.
The S & P rating was based on our spending per student on core operations and student performance on state reading and math assessments. The calculation also considered three factors outside of our control – the enrollment of economically disadvantaged students, English language learners and students with disabilities. In Emporia ’s profile, S & P analysts compare our results to those of Dodge City , the most similar district with a 100 percent efficiency rating. Dodge City has a higher enrollment, larger percentage of at-risk students and higher spending per student than Emporia . It is interesting to note that Emporia has higher achievement results in every category considered.
The board of education, administration and staff work hard to make sure we spend public funds on those things most important to our primary mission of student learning. Our budget-development process allows us to allocate money where it will have the greatest impact on our strategic plan and district improvement goals. The process allows employees and other community members to thoroughly examine our budget and provide recommendations for spending priorities.
It is gratifying that our district can operate efficiently at the same time we have been able to reduce enrollment costs for parents, continue to reduce class sizes, provide more instructional support for students and teachers, and give competitive raises and benefit packages to our employees. I believe state legislators can be confident that the additional resources provided to our district have been put to good use.
This is quite a contrast from just a few years ago when we were forced to reduce services, close an elementary school, implement pay-to-participate fees for extracurricular activities, and give small raises to our employees. With the support of the state legislature and our community and good financial management, we have been able to turn that trend around in a positive way.
This does not mean that we can sit back and bask in the success. The district still has too many students who are not achieving at high levels. We are committed to helping every child become proficient in reading and math so they can excel in all academic areas and graduate from high school. Our challenge is to accomplish this while continuing to be good stewards of public funds.