South Kingstown Public Schools Memo

Date:            12/6/05

TO:                 Stephen Alfred, Town manager

From:           Robert Hicks

CC:                  school committee

RE:                 december 6 meeting

In advance of the December 6 Town Council meeting, the School Committee asked me to pull together some information on three items.  One is a status report on issues related to the school department that have either been questioned by the Town Council in recent meetings, or are central to the operation of the schools.  Two is information related to the School Committee’s effort to create a set of working goals that align with the district’s strategic plan and needs of the schools while reflecting the priority of the School Committee.  Three is the status of the Handshake Agreement, which has been discussed by the School Committee at its meetings.  That information follows.

Additionally, two documents are attached to this memorandum.  One is an outline of issues developed by the School Committee to frame its discussion with the legislative delegation, scheduled for December 13.  Comments and suggestions from the Town Council that inform the discussion would be most welcome.  The second is a facility update provided to the School Committee in October.  This update deals with the current and planned utilization of office space combined with the need for an additional preschool classroom.

Updates

Student Achievement

The district is accountable for assessment results under the No Child Left Behind Act.  The Department of Education measures results on a proficiency index that awards 100 points for proficient students and fewer points for lower levels of proficiency.  All schools are required to have an index of 100 (all students proficient by 2014).  Additionally, subgroups of students must also meet proficiency targets that rise between now and 2014.  In 2005 our Free and Reduced Lunch students missed the ELA target, causing the caution to be put on our High Performing Status.  Our proficiency indexes since 2002 are in the table below and show consistent progress.

 

2002

2003

2004

2005

Gr 4 Math

80.87

81.48

83.40

*

Gr 4 ELA

90.11

89.44

91.10

*

Gr 8 Math

73.17

73.49

78.10

*

Gr 8 ELA

82.22

82.01

85.20

*

Gr 11 Math

66.25

69.70

73.70

81.08

Gr 11 ELA

78.19

81.38

84.00

86.98

* = moved to fall testing this year, results not reported

 

High School graduation rate

One of the School Committee’s critical goals is to make all students successful at the South Kingstown High School.  A key indicator of that success is the graduation rate.  In the last three years, that indicator has reflected improvement.

South Kingstown High School Graduation Rate for Most Recent Three Years

Year

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004-2005

Graduation Rate

85.9%

88.1%

94.4%

 

Curricula/programs consistently in place

The School Committee has striven to bring consistency and equity to the educational received by students at each and every one of our schools.  To that end we’ve developed and implemented new curricula consistent instructional programs in mathematics, language arts, and science (K-6) and are completing the process in social studies and library media.  Work is planned or underway in other subject areas.

Professional development system

In order to improve teaching and learning in the district it is essential to have a system of professional development.  Components of our system include:

·         A program of development for administrators through the Institute for Learning that provides a consistent framework, language and instructional philosophy to guide teaching and learning in the district.  This effort is in its third year.

·         A structure that makes professional development a part of each teacher’s job responsibility that both addresses individual needs and is aligned to school and district improvement goals.

·         Increased professional development time for teachers made available to schools for addressing school improvement goals.

·         Training to support the implementation of new curricula and programs.

Spending versus budget

The School Committee has made consistent progress in keeping expenditures in line with appropriations and returning positive balances.  This year the district projects keeping expenditures within the FTM appropriation, returning a surplus, and maintaining the handshake commitment.

Budget to Actual Expenditures and End-of-Year Balances

 

Actual

Actual

Actual

Actual

Actual

Projected

 

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

Budgeted

 $ 36,187,338

 $ 41,582,164

 $44,100,563

 $47,404,597

 $48,813,877

 $51,925,052

Expended

 $ 36,864,477

 $ 41,256,687

 $44,650,202

 $47,671,022

 $48,417,267

 $51,311,005

$ over expend

 $      677,139

 $    (325,477)

 $     549,639

 $     266,425

 $  (396,610)

 $  (614,047)

% over expend

1.9%

-0.8%

1.2%

0.6%

-0.8%

-1.2%

Net Total

 $      (82,569)

 $      413,210

 $     209,282

 $        1,355

 $      444,181

 $      614,047

 

Staffing trends

The School Committee has reduced FTE’s in each of the last three years.  While enrollments have dropped, the school district also faces significant new mandates from both state and federal actions and also to respond to unmet needs for curriculum and professional development.  The School Committee has worked hard to become more efficient and reassign staff to meet these new requirements.  In addition to meeting these needs, the School Committee has also reduced class sizes, made them more equitable, and developed a plan to address declining middle school enrollment while maintaining our educational philosophy and quality.  This year the district has created additional positions in response to specific student needs, but supported them within the budget.

Historic and Current Staff FTE’s

Description

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

Actual

Administrative

23.0

23.5

23.0

23.0

22.0

21.0

21.0

Teaching

336.2

379.6

385.3

382.8

379.2

370.9

372.8

Non-certified

159.8

201.1

212.3

213.1

203.5

194.9

198.9

Total FTE's

519.0

604.2

620.5

618.9

604.7

586.8

592.7

 

Workers’ Compensation trends

Part of the district’s budget discussion over the past two years has been the increase in Worker’s Compensation costs arising primarily from increased experience.  To address this trend, and in cooperation with our insurer, The Trust, the district revised hiring practices, changed Worker’s Compensation collective bargaining language, and formed a Safety Committee to improve workplace safety.  Additionally, new policies on pre-employment physicals and return to work, developed by the Safety Committee, will be coming to the School Committee for consideration.  These actions moved our trend lines in a positive direction.

Workers’ Compensation Loss Ratios per Policy Year

Year

PY 03

PY 04

PY 05

Loss Ratio

133%

102%

20%

 

Special education tuitions

The district’s budget was on the verge of being overrun with growth in special education tuitions, both budgeted and unbudgeted, an issue faced not only by South Kingstown, but districts across the state and country.  The School Committee not only met its goal of capping the growth in this expenditure, but far exceeded it by reducing expenditure to below the level of four years ago.

Special Education Tuition Expenditures

Actual

Actual

Actual

Actual

Actual

Projected

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

 $1,431,974

 $1,838,168

 $2,013,003

 $1,958,024

 $1,766,869

 $1,597,868

 

Health Care Fund

A goal of the School Committee was to re-establish funds in the Health Care Reserve Account, which had been depleted to fund the operations budget in past years.  Over the last two years, this account has been replenished and it is projected to again increase it in the current year.

Health Care Reserve Account Over The Last Three Years

Year Ending

6/30/03

6/30/04

6/30/05

Reserve Account

$0

$143,687

$312,120

 

Enrollment

As of this writing, the School Committee has yet to receive its enrollment projections based on the 10/1/05 census.  Regardless, the district’s enrollment is decreasing as seen in table below.  The School Committee addressed the decline in elementary students last year in the closing of a school.  This fall, it completed planning for reconfiguring middle schools to match enrollment.  The district will maintain two grade 6-8 middle schools and will collapse a team in each school in 2008 when the population reaches the appropriate level.  Charter school enrollment is nearing its peak.  The budgeted and actual enrollment and tuition is also below.  The difference between budgeted and actual charter tuition is part of the handshake agreement discussed later in this memorandum.

Enrollment Trend and Charter School Tuition

K-12 Enrollment

Year

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Students