Last week the Legislative Budget Board published online: Methods for Reducing Costs and Maximizing Revenue in Public School Districts. Some of the suggestions were:
In Educational Service Delivery: evaluate the cost effectiveness of block scheduling. A 2007 review of a large, North Texas district reported that by returning to a traditional instructional schedule, the district could save over $400,000 annually in salaries and benefits for 10 excess teaching positions.
In Financial Management: monitor property tax collection efforts and implement programs targeted at increasing student attendance, decreasing truancy, lowering the dropout rate to increase state funding, and developing the annual budget based on reduced Average Daily Attendance (ADA) numbers. For a medium-sized, Gulf Coast district that had more than 200 students with 20 absences each in school year 2004–05, the loss in state revenue was approximately $27,000, based on the district’s $6.38 ADA funding per student.
In Facilities Construction, Use, and Management: implement energy conservation/management policies and programs. A 2009 review of a medium-sized, North Texas school district reported that the district estimated it would save $12,000 per month through the implementation and execution of its energy policy and guidelines at the district’s 14 facilities.
Cross-functional: create staffing guidelines, formulas, and ratios. The latest data available (2008–09) indicates that labor costs consume approximately 79 percent of the average school district budget. Within the 2009 State Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Report (GEER), a report entitled Improve Texas Public School Districts’ Access to Staffing Guidelines to Enhance Financial Efficiency provided an in-depth study of staffing in Texas school districts. The report noted the importance of school districts using staffing guidelines to meet industry standards and statutory requirements, as well as operate in a fiscally efficient manner.