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Washington Elementary School
District (September 2008) |
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Washington ESD’s fiscal year 2007 per-pupil administrative
costs were lower than the state average but slightly higher than the comparable
districts’ average per-pupil costs. The slightly higher costs occurred primarily
in purchased services and are related to information technology service and
support costs and consulting costs for activities such as marketing and
analyzing employee benefit costs. The District’s student transportation cost per
mile was 56 percent higher than the comparable districts’ average, and its
per-rider costs were 59 percent higher. Transportation costs were high primarily
because the District employed 36 percent more bus drivers than the comparable
districts, and it paid out over $100,000 in incentives to its transportation
employees. Washington ESD’s plant operation and maintenance per-pupil costs were
10 percent lower than the comparable districts’ average and 21 percent lower
than the average for all elementary school districts state-wide. A recently
implemented preventative maintenance program could further reduce the District’s
plant operation costs. The District spent its Proposition 301 monies for
purposes authorized by statute. Washington ESD’s fiscal year 2007 classroom
dollar percentage of 60.1 percent was more than 2 percentage points higher than
the state average. The District’s desegregation agreement with the U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, requires it to ensure equal
educational opportunities for its English Language Learners (ELL). Washington
ESD spent about $6.1 million, or $1,031 per ELL student, in desegregation monies
in fiscal year 2007. However, the District did not have a formal plan describing
the needs and goals of the desegregation program or how it will spend
desegregation monies. In fiscal year 2009, the District will need to expand its
ELL program to comply with instructional models being implemented under a 2007
Arizona statute. The District separately accounted for its ELL costs, but not
all of these costs were incremental.
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