Ensuring Equity and Adequacy of Fiscal Resources

In$ite® Financial Data:
School-to-school and 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.

In$ite category structure and definitions

View/download In$ite Functions (42KB)

Instruction

Classroom teachers (translated from instructional teachers)

Includes: Salaries and related employment costs for teachers who interact with pupils face-to-face; classroom, hospital and homebound teachers; cost of third-party instructional services for district students (e.g., advanced college courses or specialized classes provided by another district); the cost of travel for hospital, homebound and itinerant teachers; only the teaching portion of an expenditure for department chairpersons who also teach; driver education teachers if taught during normal school hours, offered without a fee and restricted to students (otherwise code to Extracurricular); music instruction (e.g., band) that is taught during the day as part of the curriculum, and tutoring (e.g., SAT, ESL); school-to-career staff, if doing face-to-face teaching.

Excludes: nurse teachers even if face-to-face teaching occurs; school-to-career staff involved in placement (code to Guidance and Counseling); teachers working with classroom teachers.

Substitute teachers

Includes: teachers substituting for other teachers unless the reason is staff development.

Excludes: teachers substituting because of staff development; substitutes not in the classroom (e.g., Library, Cafeteria Monitor).

Paraprofessionals

Includes: paraprofessionals who spend the majority of their time in the classroom or with the teacher.

Excludes: One-on-one paraprofessionals whose primary responsibility is that of physical attendants (code to Therapists); non-instructional paraprofessionals, aides and graders of student work (code to In-Service, Staff Development and Support).

Classroom technology

Includes: technology and software that pupils use; salaries and related employment costs of staff who are dedicated to support technology instruction, pupil-use network management, or computer lab support personnel; expenditures for dedicated telephone lines, maintenance and repair, and service contracts; purchases and/or lease payments for pupil-use computer equipment.

Excludes: Technology instruction; technology instruction of professional and support staff; technology and software for purposes other than pupil-use; printer, paper, ribbons, diskettes, etc.

Classroom materials

Includes: the cost of instructional materials and supplies; staff dedicated to managing the selection of those materials and supplies including textbooks, paper, lab materials, test forms, workbooks, chalk, markers, maps and charts; all classroom instructional equipment other than pupil-use computer equipment; tests; field trips that are instruction related; equipment used for presentations by master teachers; televisions dedicated to the classroom; equipment used for distance learning instruction; salaries and employment costs of staff that manage classroom materials.

Excludes: test-related research and development and the personnel involved in that process; non-instructional trips (e.g., band, glee club); projectors, video players, video-conferencing equipment, TVs mounted in classroom.