FY14-15 Budget Update
Finance Update
Presentation to School Committee
December 4, 2013
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
Overview: FY13-FY15
 Fiscal year ended on June 30, 2013
FY13
 BPS ended the year within budget for the 23rd
consecutive year
 Current fiscal year, running through June 30, 2014
FY14
FY15
 We are currently facing unanticipated
expenditures, and we are taking action in
response to these budget pressures
 Fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014 and running
through SY14-15
 We project that rising costs and decreases in
external funding will present a challenge
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
FY2014 Budget Investments
Our FY14 budget funds investments to close gaps and
ensure all students are college & career ready
 Sustains extended days in Turnaround Schools
 Sends $30 million new dollars directly into schools through
Weighted student Funding
 Invests in schools with high concentrations of poverty
 Prepares for new Dual Language, Innovation, and In-District
Charter Schools
 Supports conversion of two schools to fully inclusive programs
 Strengthens support for and development of great teachers and
school leaders
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
Our current enrollment is close to last year’s
enrollment, but lower than we had projected
Projected Enrollment:
58,284
Actual Enrollment:
56,735
District Enrollment Variance :
1,549 (-2.66%)
 This variance is particularly driven by a
leveling off of our early childhood
enrollment
 We were prepared to welcome 1,024
new students in grades K0-2 this year, in
line with the increases we have seen
since FY11
 Instead, so far we have seen an
increase of 382 students in these grades
Enrollment Changes in K0-2,
FY11-FY13
3 year
Change
% Change
Gen Ed
615
5.5%
SEI
115
4.1%
SPED
318
24.2%
Total
1,048
6.8%
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
There was a great deal of variation in projections
between and within schools
Variance in Projected vs. Actual Enrollment by School
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
-20%
Some schools actually
enrolled significantly more
students than projected
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We currently anticipate a shortfall of
approximately $10 million in FY14
 As of October 31, our anticipated shortfall is $10.3 million
 Major contributing factors include:
 Cost of opening classrooms beyond what was initially projected for this
school year and additional funding to maintain existing programming
 Cost to implement new hiring process, including training for teachers and
School Site Councils
 Interventions at Madison Park to address staffing, textbook, and
equipment needs
 Turnaround interventions at English High and E. Greenwood
 Continued growth in requirements for therapeutic services for students
with disabilities
 Transportation costs, including for homeless students, additional bus
monitors, and students with private placements
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We are taking action to address our
budget pressures in FY14
 Implemented a special review process for the hiring of
all non-classroom positions in the district
 Any request for exception will be reviewed and considered by
a subgroup of the Superintendent’s cabinet
 Will analyze current spending patterns and make
adjustments where appropriate
 Working with Veolia to identify opportunities to
minimize unanticipated transportation costs
 Reviewing the possibility of using external funds to
cover any and all expenditures
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We anticipate a challenging budget
environment in FY15
 We will face approximately $50-60 million in projected
cost increases
 Major cost components include:
 Employee step increases: $11.8 million
 Health insurance and other benefits: $7.6 million
 Collective bargaining: $17.2 million
 Investments in Madison Park: $1.3 million
 Special education out-of-district placements: $0.5 million
 Increase in bus monitors: $0.6 million
 We are working collaboratively with the City of Boston
finance team to refine our total estimate
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We anticipate a challenging budget
environment in FY15
 Other challenges will include:
 Preparing for Common Core standards and online PARCC
assessments (PARCC: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers)
 Costs associated with introducing hiring flexibility in all
schools
 Expanding inclusive practices to more schools and
classrooms
 Updating our early literacy curriculum
 Providing transportation for homeless students
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We also project a decline of approximately
$31.1 million in external funds
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
In addition, state Chapter 70 funding
provides a declining share of our budget
40%
30%
31% 30%
30% 29%
27% 25%
24%
23% 23%
20%
22% 21%
20%
19%
17%
16%
13%
10%
FY14
FY13
FY12
FY11
FY10
FY09
FY08
FY07
FY06
FY05
FY04
FY03
FY02
FY01
FY00
FY99
0%
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
BPS FY15 Budget Timeline (tentative)
Mid-Nov.
Enrollment projections to schools for review
Develop guidance to schools regarding academic
strategy
Dec. 13
Budget allocations provided to schools
Dec. – Jan.
Review of Central Office budgets
Jan. 3
School budgets due back to Budget Office
Jan. 9 – 13
Budget Reviews
Jan. 13 – Feb. Probable Org
Feb. 5
Superintendent’s recommended budget
to School Committee
Feb. – Mar.
Budget hearings
Mar. 26
School Committee votes on BPS budget
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We will once again fund schools using
Weighted Student Funding
Principle
Description
Student focused
Provides resources based on students, not on buildings, adults,
or programs
Equity
Allocate similar funding levels to students with similar
characteristics, regardless of which school they attend
Transparency
Easily understood by all stakeholders
Differentiation
based on need
Allocate resources through a comprehensive framework that
is based on student needs
Predictability
School allocation process is predictable and is structured to
minimize school-level disruption
School
empowerment
Empowers school-based decision-making to effectively use
resources
Alignment with
district strategy
Supports the Acceleration Agenda, our five-year strategic
plan
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
Boston ranks #2 among large urban districts that
use weighted student funding in directing
resources to schools
% of School Department Budget
(General Fund + Grants)
Source: Geogetown University,
Edunomics Lab
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
We are looking closely at enrollment projections
and weights as we develop school budget
allocations for FY15
 Allocations will reflect projected enrollment and
programmatic needs of schools
 We are taking this year’s enrollment trends into
account as we plan for next year
 We continue to review the weights assigned to
different student populations to ensure that the
weights reflect student needs
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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Finance
Questions?
For more information, join the
Georgetown University
Edunomics Lab for a webinar
on Weighted Student Funding
• How allocation models work
• Why districts use studentbased allocation
• What formulas look like
Tuesday, December 10th
1:00 p.m.
Register at edunomicslab.org
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