[Busmgrs] 2013-14 Estimates

[ELLIOTT Michael S.]

Dear Business Managers,

As you are well aware it has been several weeks since we have sent out an estimate. Thank you for your patience. We have a 2013-14 estimate. District estimates are available here: http://www.ode.state.or.us/services/ssf/2013-14-ssf-estimate-as-of-3-4-13-1833-hrs-co-chairs-budget.pdf. The ADMw breakout for each district is here: http://www.ode.state.or.us/services/ssf/transparency-estimate-3-4-13-1833-hrs.pdf.  ESD estimates are available here:  http://www.ode.state.or.us/services/ssf/esd-13-14-estimate-as-of-3-4-13-1838-hrs-co-chair-budget.pdf.

The reason for the delay has been the implementation of HB 3417 passed in 2011. This bill changes the way extended ADMw is calculated. The bill requires that charter school extended ADMw be calculated separately from the extended ADMw of the non-charter schools in the school district. The two numbers are then added together to determine the total extended ADMw for the district.

The first major hurdle for implementation was determining what would be included in the extended ADMw for charter schools. There were differences of opinion of which weights belonged where. The Department asked the State Board of Education for rules to clarify how the legislation would be implemented. The State Board of Education passed OAR 581-023-0106 in June of 2012.

Once the rules were established, work could begin on reprogramming the State School Fund for implementation. The challenge was that the State School Fund is not set up to separate individual schools within a district. Thus, the programming had to be almost completely redesigned to ensure that weights were assigned to both non-charter and charter schools in a district appropriately.

We have finished that programming and are ready to roll out the new estimates. However, the estimates are not the same estimates as they too needed to be completely redesigned. The current estimate did not have room to show all of the individual charter schools, the weights assigned to the school, the weights assigned to the non-charter schools and the extended ADMw. The result is that each estimate is now in two parts.

Estimate Part One: Summary Data
The first part of the estimate most closely resembles what you have seen before. This is the summary data portion of the estimate. The top of the estimate continues to display local revenue and transportation grant costs. All of this information remains at the district level and will be displayed in each district's estimate.

The middle section is the biggest change to the estimate. This section lists the individual charter schools and then adds a line for the combined non-charter schools in the district. The most noticeable change is that individual weights are not listed for each school in the district. Instead, the only information being displayed is the past year's ADMw, the current year's ADMw, and the extended ADMw for each charter school and the combined non-charter schools in the district.

Because of size limitations, no individual weight data could be added to this part of the estimate. Thus, only the totaled ADMw data can be shown in this estimate.

The rest of the estimate remains the same. The calculations for the general purpose grant, including the ratio, are shown. The total formula revenue, which includes the transportation grant, is then calculated. Finally the state school fund grant, which is total revenue less local revenue, is displayed. The amounts per ADMw are also still on the estimate.

The biggest change to the estimate is that individual weights are not calculated for each district on this part of the estimate. There is simply no room to show the district weights and the charter school weights. The estimate cannot total the charter and non-charter school weights because that is not how extended ADMw is now calculated. Thus, only summary data is available on this part of the estimate.

Estimate Part Two: Detailed Data
The good news is that we are able to show the individual weights the non-charter and individual charter schools receive per district. The weights are distributed per OAR 581-023-0106. This is the second part of the estimate which shows the current year's weights for each charter school in the district as well as the total for the non-charter schools.

The second part of the estimate does several things. First it lists all of the weights for each charter school as well as the weights for the combined district. Second, it lists the weights for the past year as well as the current year. Thus, each charter school in a district, as well as the non-charter schools in the district, will see each weight, the multiplier given to that weight, and the total weights added, for both the current year and the past year.

The goal of the part of the estimate is to increase the transparency around weights and how they are distributed between the non-charter and charter schools in the district. To further transparency, each school's weights are listed by the current year as well as the past. Thus, you will be able to see how extended ADMw was calculated.

Conclusion
The goals of these new estimates are two-fold. First, we want the estimates to reflect HB 3417 and how charter and non-charter extended ADMw is now calculated. It is important that everyone understand what numbers are being used to form the extended ADMw of the district which forms the basis of the district's general purpose grant.

The second goal is to increase transparency on how the weights are allocated between the district's non-charter and charter schools. It is important that districts understand which weights go directly to a charter school and which weights remain with the district. The second part of the estimate displays this distribution. It shows, in table form, how weights are distributed per OAR 581-023-0106.

Thank you again for your patience in this implementation process. The programming and behind the scenes work was more complicated than originally contemplated. The results create a very different estimate than the one that everyone is used to. However, the new estimates continue the transparency around the formula of the old estimates and increase the transparency on how weights are distributed.

Please review the new estimates carefully to get a better feel of how they will work. If anyone has additional questions, please let me know.

Thank you,
Michael


Michael Elliott, State School Fund Coordinator
Oregon Department of Education
503-947-5627
Michael.S.Elliott at ode.state.or.us




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