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Based on
our analysis, Arizona school districts’ administrative expenditures on a
state-wide basis were in line with the national average at 10.8 percent in
fiscal year 2001. This equates to approximately $560 per pupil on average;
however, costs in individual districts range from approximately $370 per pupil
to $6,013. Factors associated with higher per-pupil administrative costs
include smaller student populations, and above-average salaries, staffing
levels, benefits, and purchased services costs on a per-pupil basis. The
opposite was generally true for districts with low per-pupil administrative
costs. Changes in these same factors, as well as accounting changes or errors,
caused districts to move into or out of the high- or low-cost categories.
In
addition, based on analysis of available state-wide data, the report discusses
some additional factors that are associated with higher administrative costs.
These include smaller school sizes, rural or isolated locations, significant
amounts of federal impact aid, lower spending on classroom instruction, and
large fund balances. This report also presents a ranked listing of each
district’s total and per-pupil administrative costs.
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