Comparison+of+Large+and+Small+Districts+Expenditures

Week Four Assignment, Part 2 – Comparing Economy of Scale in Large and Small Districts Small || District 2 Large ||
 * || District 1
 * Revenue Per Pupil || $10,529.00 || $10,316.00 ||
 * Operating Expenditures per Pupil || $8,611.00 || $8,908.00 ||
 * Average Teacher Salary || $39,771.00 || $50,307.00 ||


 * Total Students || 830 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">32,326 ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Number of Students Per Teacher || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">11.9 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14.1 ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teacher Turnover Rate || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">16.4 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">15.7 ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Total Revenue || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">$8,823,250 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">$329,638,930 ||
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fund Balance || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">$2,552,074 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">$42,780,035 ||

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It seems that larger districts that are able to reduce the percentage of the total budget spent on specific expenditures. District 1 spent 13% on plant maintenance while District 2 spent only 10%. The larger the buildings, the cheaper they are to run on a per student basis. Also, the closer a building is to operating at capacity, the cheaper it is to run that building per student. Another percentage savings is in operating an athletics program: 11% in District 1 and only 2% in district 2. Additionally, larger districts will likely have a larger fan base and thus larger gate receipts to support the athletics program. Athletics in a large district has a higher chance of raising enough revenue to sustain itself. Any program that HAS to be duplicated is cheaper per student to run in a larger district. That leaves a larger percentage that can be spent directly on instruction. In District 2, 62% of total budget expenditures are for instruction while in District 1 the amount is only 54%. It seems that the phenomena observed here is similar to the difference between a small business and a WalMart. There is a cost savings associated with operating a large district that might make consolidation of smaller districts attractive. The bigger the organization the lower the per-pupil cost of providing the education. For district 1, the fund balance of $2.5 Million is 39% of the total budget. For District 2, the $42 million is only 16% of the total budget. Its almost as if the smaller district has too much in reserve.

We think that the important lesson for superintendents in this activity is that when you have larger facilities, you can spend less (percentage -wise) on those things and more on instruction as is indicated by the differences in expenditures for instruction in our subject districts: District 1 spent $4619 on instruction while District 2 spent $5494 on instruction. A large portion of this difference could be due to the higher average salary in District 2 but any difference in instructional expenditures can result in better or more resources for teachers to use in instruction. Another possible implication for leaders in smaller districts could be the size of their facilities. Rather than build small schools to accommodate growth or to replace facilities, leaders may consider the cost savings associated with operating larger campuses when planning for facilities.