User's Guide: School Report – Page 2

Finances

Data source: In$ite®

What you are looking at

The In$ite financial reporting system breaks down all school-level expenditures into the four major categories indicated in bold in the key at the lower left-hand of this field. The first bar graph shows the allocation of all school expenditures that include every school program, such as Special Education and Vocational Education. The bar graph just below shows the state average for that school’s level: elementary, middle or high. The state average is not a recommended standard or ideal, but merely an anchor for the purposes of comparison. The table at the lower right shows the per pupil expenditure in each program. Please note that the per pupil is not a simple headcount but a count according to full-time equivalent or FTE. (See further explanation below.)

What you are looking for

You are looking to get a sense of how your school allocates its resources. Expenditures might reflect the especially high or low challenges of the children in the building or educational decisions that require a different-than-average investment, such as a full-time social worker for Instructional Support.

Per-pupil Expenditures (By Program)
All expenditure dollars on the school and district charts are expressed as a per-pupil figure. These per-pupil expenditures are based on the Average Daily Membership (ADM) of students and then their full-time equivalent (FTE) in their respective programs. Per pupil is not a simple headcount, but a count by FTE. A child enrolled for an entire school year in a full-day program equals one FTE. A half-day kindergarten student enrolled for a full year equals ½, or 0.5, FTE. If a student was not enrolled for the full year, his or her FTE would decrease by the time not enrolled. Thus, the half-day kindergarten student enrolled for only half a year equals ¼, or 0.25, FTE.

Each student’s FTE is then divided by the educational programs provided to that student. A child’s participation in Special Education Resource or English as a Second Language is counted only as a percentage of that child’s day. In a six-period day, a child who spends one period in a specific program will count as one sixth for that program. Six such periods a day for the full school year would account for the full-time equivalent (FTE) and for a full year’s per-pupil expenditure for that program.

In$ite’s school-to-school, district-to-district comparisons
Each school district in Rhode Island uses its own accounting systems and will probably continue to do so. Differing systems make specific district-to-district or school-to-school comparisons impossible, obscuring any clear understanding of the state’s education finances as a whole. In$ite does not replace an accounting system, but is designed to be a reporting tool that aids fiscal management. As a relational database, In$ite brings managerial accounting capabilities to the education field. In$ite is a management aid that provides decision-makers with relevant, timely, and user-friendly information that can illuminate how schools might become more efficient and productive.