Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
March 2013
Table of Contents
Background and Overview
1
Revenue Generation
2
A.
B.
C.
D.
Current Capacity Constraints
Filling Current Capacity – The Need for More Students
Tuition and Financial Aid
Grant Funding
Cost Control
A.
B.
C.
D.
3
4
7
8
9
Athletics
High School Electives
Class Size
Administration, Business and Technology Services
1. Administration
2. Business and Technology Services
Conclusion
9
9
10
10
12
12
13
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Members of the committee:
Mark Cooper
Maya Klein
Frank Fristoe
Michael Potter
Nicole Grayson
Paul Strassmaier
Dean Griffith
Brent Hutchings, resigned mid-project due to job out-of-area
Committee Support:
Kathy Rodeman
Michael Taylor
Fiscal Advisory Committee
Final Report
Background
Superintendent MacNamara appointed the committee to advise her in ways to increase revenues and
reduce expenditures for the next several years. The committee was asked to continue working with
Interim Superintendent Taylor to meet its charge.
The committee met nine times to request and review information. Discussions were considered
confidential and frank conversations were held. As a starting point, members reviewed costs per
student based on information available from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the
ChalkBoard Project Open Books (Appendix A). Districts were selected for comparison that appeared to
provide accredited educational programs and with similar populations. Given that Riverdale’s
socioeconomic status ranks higher than other Oregon districts, we also considered similar populations
based on percentage of students with disabilities, English-Language Learners, and poverty. Other data
was gathered and shared as requested (Appendix B). The committee reviewed data including Colton
and Corbett school districts and in the end concluded that those districts were not good matches for
Riverdale because they do not offer accredited high school programs. As well, there were concerns
about the level of “off-budget” funding that occurred when a charter school was co-located in a
traditional school facility.
Mark Cooper compiled information obtained directly from ODE for all Oregon districts and shared his
analysis of the percentage of support service costs to instruction based on the ODE definitions
(Appendix C), small school average costs (Appendix D), and the 2011-12 budgeted costs by Open Books
category (Appendix E).
Michael Potter and Maya Klein developed a model to help look at capacity, enrollment, and related
teaching costs that they shared (Appendix F).
Overview
In making these recommendations, the Committee recognizes that these are starting points and that the
Superintendent will be in the best position to determine whether they are possible or desirable changes.
The intent behind these recommendations is to provide an independent look at the way the district
operates and how it might continue to support the quality education of Riverdale students in the future.
Our analysis and recommendations consider two broad categories:


Revenue Generation
Cost Control
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 1
REVENUE GENERATION
The main sources of revenues for the Riverdale School District (RSD) are the State School Fund Formula
(SSF), Tuition Revenues, Contributions from the Riverdale Schools Foundation, and the Local Option
Levy. The largest share of revenues is based upon the number of students attending Riverdale Schools.
Riverale School District
General Fund Operating Revenues 2012-13
Local Option All other
4%
Levy
7%
Foundation
13%
Tuition
21%
SSF
55%
SSF
RSD is unique in Oregon public schools in that only 334 of the current 545 students reside inside the RSD
boundary. Enrollment patterns for resident students attending the grade school show a decline over the
past 10 years from 292 in 2002-03 to 225 in 2012-13. At the same time, the number of resident
students attending the high school has increased from 45 to 109. Community members pay school
district property taxes that help fund the SSF.
Inter-district transfer students also count towards the SSF. Inter-district transfers bring 92 students to
RSD. Two types of transfer students are allowed under state law: mutually agreed upon between both
districts and unilateral “Open Enrollment” transfers with the limiting factor as the number of seats
declared open by the receiving district. Financial troubles have prompted many districts to decline
mutually agreed upon transfers to withdrawing students. There are risks associated with opening
enrollment without the ability to screen applicants. In 2002-03, RSD had 135 transfer students, this year
there are 92. The current population of transfer students generates over $500,000 annually in state
school fund revenues. (See Enrollment as of February 15, 2013 in Appendix G)
The SSF allocates about $6,200 per resident student to Riverdale District plus additional funds for
students with special needs. Only resident and transfer students generate funding under the SSF. In
addition, the total resident and transfer students at Riverdale High School are combined to determine
the school’s “small high school” status. This status provides RSD with additional financial resources.
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 2
Tuition
RSD also admits 120 students who pay tuition of $11,120 to $11,950 annually to attend Riverdale
schools. This student group has increased from 59 in 2002-03. RSD is allowed to charge no more than
actual cost per student as tuition. The local community support from the Local Option Levy and the
Foundation are captured as part of the tuition cost to attend. In the 2013 legislative session, a bill was
introduced that would hamper RSD’s ability to continue tuition students. Although it was later
amended, this type of legislation could severely affect RSD revenues and programs. In order for RSD to
continue to maintain current levels of service, increased emphasis on tuition paying students must be a
high priority. We have analyzed the top-down capacity of the district to determine the potential
revenue opportunity that exists within our facilities.
A.
Current Capacity Constraints
RSD maintains two learning facilities – a Riverdale Grade School (“RGS”) and Riverdale High School
(“RHS”). Riverdale High School is leased from the Portland Public School District on a long-term land
lease. RSD acquired the former elementary school building and refurbished it through a bond issue.
Since it was originally purposed as an elementary school, the classrooms are smaller than those in most
high schools, less land is available on site for sports fields, parking is limited and fewer classrooms
overall are located on site. The monthly lease payments of $12,433 are treated as operating costs in the
General Fund. This $149,000/year expense is reported as a Support Services cost per student and
increases at 2% each year per the lease agreement.
Board target for maximum class size at the high school level is 27, but the physical size of the classrooms
places a practical limitation on class size, especially for lab science classes limited to 23 students at a
time. The lease agreement restricts the number of Portland Public School students who can attend
Riverdale High School to 75 at any time. The agreement further limits the overall number of students
that can attend to 360. Currently, 243 students attend Riverdale High School. Currently, the high school
is operating at 66% of its designed student capacity, and 68% of its permitted capacity.
Riverdale High School Capacity
Description
Calculation
Physical Capacity
14 classrooms X 27
Students – 2 X 4 (smaller
science classrooms)
Lease Maximum
Practical Capacity
23 max students in
science classes
Current # Students
Available Seats
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Capacity
370
Percent Capacity
Used
66%
360
68%
322
75%
243
79 to 127
Page 3
Riverdale Grade School was rebuilt and the new building opened in fall 2010. The Multnomah County
conditional use permit restricts capacity to 350 students. Limited parking and other traffic concerns
would need to be addressed to apply for an increased capacity. Currently, there are 314 K-8 students
enrolled. The grade school is operating at 60% of design capacity, and 90% of permitted capacity.
Discounting the four classrooms used for the preschool program, art program, resource room and
computer lab, there are 20 available classrooms.
Riverdale Grade School Capacity:
Description
Calculation
520
Percent Capacity
Used
60%
Permitted Capacity
350
90%
Current # Students
Available Seats
314
36 to 206
Physical Capacity
20 classrooms X 26
Students
Capacity
Student capacity at each school is limited by current use permits and agreements. There are currently
fewer students attending than allowed. In addition, at RHS, there is a potential disincentive to having
too many in-district and transfer students, which could reduce the subsidy that RHS receives for being a
“small high school”. The costs to maintain the facility and grounds and to administer the buildings are
being carried by fewer students, increasing the cost per student in comparison with other districts.
Recommendations:



B.
Capacity: Administration needs to set the target capacity for each building and the number of
available student seats.
Capacity: The District should work to remove the legal limitations on student capacity at both
schools. At RHS, a balance should be struck to continue focus on recruiting tuition paying
students. At RGS, staff should pursue an amendment or modification to the conditional use
permit to allow more than the maximum 350 students.
Reducing Operating Costs: Negotiate with Portland Public Schools to buy-out the High School
lease, fund with bonds or some campaign to remove the costs from the operating budget.
Instead of spending operating dollars on the lease, it could fund 1.5 teaching positions.
Filling Current Capacity – The Need for More Students
Marketing and Recruitment Strategy
To continue to attract new students, Riverdale School District budgeted $204 per student for marketing
and communications. The average of the comparator districts is $5 per student. Committee members
interviewed the marketing consultant and admissions coordinator about marketing efforts.
RHS has depended on marketing and recruitment since it began in 1996. Prospective parents and
students are attracted to the smaller school size, the richness of the extracurricular activities and the
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 4
strength of the academic program with an emphasis on science and humanities, the variety of electives
and small class sizes, student engagement in critical thinking and independent learning, parent teacher
communications, and that every student attending RHS has made a conscious choice to attend. At the
ninth grade, many resident students opt to attend private schools and transfer to other public schools.
Riverdale loses 35% to 50% of its 8th grade resident students to other schools. RHS does not offer a
football program and some students transfer out in order to play sports at higher division schools. Very
few students choose to enter the high school at upper grades; a few students leave during or after ninth
grade and that attrition means smaller upper grades. While this attrition of resident students may
appear problematic, it opens a number of seats at RHS to tuition paying students. If the entire cohort of
in-district 8th graders were to attend RHS in one year, the revenue loss could be as much as $80,500
($11,950 Tuition - $6,200 SSF X [34 Resident Students – 60% of Resident Students])). Additionally, RHS
would lose some of the “small high school” correction funding, reducing another $44,050 from SSF. If
that were to occur each year for four years, the total annual revenue reduction could be as high as
$124,550.
RHS has depended on marketing since it began and receives potential students on a regular basis.
Teachers always welcome students in each class and volunteer parent greeters meet with the parents of
visiting students and answer questions they might have. Our interviews indicate that the RHS PTC
organizes this effort, and that it is not part of the official marketing and admissions strategy. The
marketing consultant shared survey results showing that people are looking for a stronger foreign
language program at the high school. She also felt that increasing financial aid would help families
choose to attend.
At RGS, the main entry points have been determined by staff to be primarily at Kindergarten and 6th
grade, with additional activity at the 1st grade level. Prospective parents are looking for smaller class
sizes especially compared to neighboring public schools, specialists teaching art and music programs,
and services for students with special education needs. To build entries at kindergarten, the district
offers a preschool fee-based program. The committee heard that offering an outstanding kindergarten
and primary grade program is critical to keeping non-resident students in the upper grades. Many
parents of private school students begin looking for a 6th grade experience that will help prepare their
students for high school. At Riverdale, the 6th grade class is blended with the 5th grade. It is uncertain
whether this attracts or deters potential students.
RGS marketing is not as formalized as those efforts at RHS. At the grade school, some visiting students
and parents have not felt welcomed. Furthermore it has been reported that some of the teachers do
not welcome the students. No system is in place for parent greeters. Our interviews suggest that
typically the principal at RGS has been the primary promoter for the school and that no broad strategy
of recruitment exists. There appear to be few links between RGS and RHS creating a sense of district
unity in curriculum, sports, and other activities. According to the marketing and admissions interviews,
factors that would improve the marketability of RGS would be an aligned, district oriented curriculum;
stability in leadership; word-of-mouth reputation shared by other parents; and faculty welcoming the
potential students. To encourage positive parent recruitment, a rebate to parents who referred new
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 5
tuition students might generate more students. The committee acknowledges that the requirement to
support in-district students poses some challenges to grade level recruiting at RGS.
Recommendations:




Marketing:
o RSD Superintendent should establish specific, measurable targets for enrollment for
each grade early in the recruiting year, which we understand to mean by the end of
November and evaluate the district’s efforts in meeting those targets.
o As well, there should be specific emphasis on pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten
recruiting year round.
o Setting a higher target of 80 students for the 9th grade class would allow for some
natural attrition in later years.
o Consideration should be given to offering referral rebates and establishing a more
welcoming atmosphere at the Grade School by implementing a unified site observation
plan communicated to teachers and staff with the expectation that it is fully supported.
o One of the ideas is to rename the high school to emphasize academic preparation for
college – Riverdale Preparatory Academy.
o District should evaluate reasons for student attrition, and implement changes as
appropriate to mitigate future student attrition.
o RSD Superintendent should consider forming a marketing advisory committee similar to
this effort to work with staff and marketing consultant in establishing marketing targets
and evaluating efforts.
Increase number of tuition students - RHS is currently 56 students below its practical capacity
and RGS is 36 seats underutilized. If those seats were filled with tuition paying students, more
than $1 million additional dollars in revenues would be generated. As students are added, the
district should hire teachers to maintain Board maximum class size requirements so that the
resulting impact is an increase to net revenues.
Facility Grant: The RSD Budget Committee and Board have allocated one-time Facility Grant
funds to pay for five to six years (2011 to 2016-17) of staff development, curriculum adoption,
technology replacement, and major repairs to the High School. In making this designation, they
considered that the Oregon economy was likely to lag the national economy in recovery and
that it could take that long before K-12 funding significantly improved. The designated items
were considered critical to maintain the highest quality academic programs and school safety.
The district is currently in the second of the five to six years and is facing a serious budget issue
in 2013-14 as PERS rates increase and other General Fund revenues decline. Committee
members questioned this direction and the effect on marketing and ability to attract more
tuition students. The policy of the spending horizon should be accelerated over the next two
years, in order to subsidize the current level of service
Connecting the Schools: Committee members felt that some of the natural connections built in
other districts between the grade schools and high schools were missing at Riverdale. For
instance, middle school sports teams could create a stronger link to the high school teams if the
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 6
high school coaches were helping the middle school students or if the team names were linked.
Additionally, activities such as the drama camp using high school students as mentors should
continue to be supported. Finally, as an internal marketing tool, RHS needs to share the
successes and achievements of its students as effectively as possible to the district as a whole.
This may help parents and students fully understand what the high school is about and what is
offered as they make a decision about where to attend.
c.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Riverdale charges tuition for those students living outside the district’s boundary who are not attending
on an inter-district transfer. Tuition paying students have grown from 49 in 2002-03 to 120 as of
February 2013, representing nearly $1.4 million in revenues and 21% of the operating budget. The
district budgets 90% of the estimated tuition amounts, allowing for fluctuation in estimates, students
who exit the schools before year end and those who are delinquent paying tuition. Annual tuition rates
are set in early fall (for the following school year) by the school board to recover the cost of educating
each student, which is the legal maximum that may be charged:
Kindergarten
$ 5,560 for the ½ day program
st
th
1 through 4 Grades
10,120
th
th
5 through 12 Grades
11,950
Families with multiple children receive a 5% discount on the second and subsequent children attending
on tuition basis. There are 12 siblings receiving the 5% discount in 2012-13.
Financial aid is granted on a needs basis up for up to 50% of the annual tuition. The Riverdale
Foundation has set aside about $70,000 for a three-year period to support financial aid. As that funding
ends, the district is tasked with finding another way to continue providing financial aid in future years.
Financial aid can help increase student body diversity both ethnic and socioeconomic.
The district’s marketing consultant observed that competing private schools offer more financial aid to
students, supporting families with up to $165,000 annual income. Committee members discussed
whether funding financial aid through increased tuition rates would be advisable as well as whether
lowering tuition rates would increase students.
As mentioned in the earlier section, one of the side effects of depending upon tuition as a revenue
stream is that Riverdale must continue to invest in marketing costs. Review of student applications and
hosting potential students adds one FTE to the district’s overhead. Another added cost is related to the
processing and collection of tuition receivables in the business office. Both costs are unique to RSD as a
public school, and should be considered in their proper context as an investment.
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 7
2012-13 Tuition Rate Samples
Enrollment Grade School
543
$11,120
1154
--
School
Riverdale
Jesuit
Type
K-8/HS
HS
Catlin Gabel
Oregon Episcopal
French American
Portland Jewish
Academy
GS/MS/HS
K-12
GS/MS/Feeder
PK-8/Feeder
729
840
395
340
$21,550
$21,410
$14,820
$14,740
Middle School
$11,950
-$23,050
$24,620
$15,950
$15,240
High School
$11,950
11,525+2,600
+ Books
$24,750
$25,340
---
Recommendations:
 Lock in Tuition Revenues - The superintendent should evaluate ways to reduce exposure to bad
debts in tuition such as requiring payment in full by July or August, working with a financial
institution to loan money to those needing to pay monthly, and/or requiring tuition insurance
from all families not paying in full – naming the district as the recipient.
 Evaluate Tuition Rates - The Board should consider an in-depth review of tuition rates that
models what might happen if rates are lowered, if sibling discounts are increased, if rates are
raised to generate additional financial aid.
 Emphasize and Encourage suggested level giving to Foundation – currently, a significant portion
of in-district families do not participate in suggested level giving to the foundation, or do not
give outright. A big part of what makes the Riverdale education experience special is the
additional funding from the Local Option levy and the strong foundation contributions. Tuition
students pay their share as it is built into tuition rates. Resident student and transfer student
families need to recognize that paying their fair share is what helps create the positive learning
environment. The Foundation needs to clearly identify what contributions support and
encourage participation.
D.
Grant Funding
The district has applied for few grants for curriculum and programs. No one person in the district is
assigned to research grant possibilities and match them to district needs.
The older High School facility needs window replacements for energy efficiency. Solar energy could
offset some of the electric bills if it were eligible for tax credits or grants. Each of these energy/utility
projects needs capital funding and could provide operating savings.
Recommendations:
 Grants - Pursue special grant funding for energy related projects to help reduce operating costs.
These might be able to work into elective opportunities for students to help design the projects.
 Grants – Actively pursue grants to enhance STEM curriculum and equipment
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 8
COST CONTROL
The district is funded mainly from the State School Fund Formula that pays for resident and transfer
students. As Oregon has been in recession and is slowly recovering, the revenues have not kept pace
with cost increases such as PERS rates and automatic pay increases for instructional staff. The
committee discussed options for the district to reduce operating and program costs in the near future.
A.
Athletics
The athletic director shared information about the cost of athletics at the high school compared to the
grade school.
 The Grade School offers school sponsored soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track and field at a
participation fee of $300 per student. This year 149 middle school students are participating in
these after school activities. The cost of providing middle school athletics is $50,780 and fees
generate $44,700, leaving a General Fund subsidy of $6,080. Fees would need to increase to
$345 to eliminate the subsidy.
 At the High School, 222 students participate in soccer, volleyball, cross country, basketball, golf,
tennis and track and field at a fee of $350 per student. RHS operates a no-cut program allowing
every interested student to participate. The cost to offer these athletic activities is $192,300
and fees recover $77,700. The General Fund subsidizes $114,600 for student participation. As
mentioned in the Marketing discussion, many high school students consider athletic
participation a critical part of their experience. The committee wondered if the subsidy should
be considered an investment.
Recommendation:
 Athletics - The deficit in athletic programming should be cut in half. Consider a combination of
increasing participation fees, capturing gate receipts.
 Athletics – The committee felt that an increase to the Grade School athletic fee should be
considered as recovering the cost most likely would not impact the number of students
participating in the sports program.
 Athletics – The committee felt that recovering the full cost for the high school programs would
most likely be excessive and result in a substantial reduction in student participation. It may
benefit the district to have the amount of program subsidy clearly identified and recognize that
it contributes to the overall high school experience and most likely has a positive impact on
student retention and recruiting efforts at the high school.
B. High School Electives
Some students at the High School require the Algebra I and Geometry courses. Elective offerings at the
High School have suffered since the district switched to three trimester math courses required of lower
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 9
level math students. Previously, these students were taught two trimesters of math and teachers
taught one trimester of electives. The emphasis on math has led to not enough qualified teachers
teaching electives to accommodate all students. The High School has been creative in dealing with this
issue by assigning more students to independent studies and using parent volunteers to assist teaching
electives under the direction of licensed teachers. Students participating in the Templeton Scholars
program through Lewis and Clark also help reduce the scheduling burden.
Recommendation:
 Electives - Look at reallocating existing staff to provide more elective offerings. Re-evaluate the
decision to require three trimesters of lower level math. Consider requiring proficiency classes
outside the school day as pre-requisites for students lagging in math skills.
 Partnerships - Leverage outside groups to provide more opportunities for students. Student
teachers from Lewis and Clark, joint venture programs with neighboring colleges, outside groups
like Saturday Academy for special classes to convert the fixed costs of teaching staff to variable
costs based on the number of students served.
C. Class Size
Riverdale Grade School has reportedly emphasized small class sizes to prospective parents. According
to the marketing and admissions staff, incoming parents are looking mostly for alternatives to their local
public schools. The Oregonian has reported class sizes in neighboring school districts range from 25 to
37 at elementary schools, 32 to 46 at middle schools, 40-52 at high schools. In contrast, Riverdale has
primary 1-2 blended classrooms averaging 16 students per teacher, 3-4 classrooms averaging 24
students, and 5-8 classrooms averaging 20 students. The smaller Riverdale class sizes have been
subsidized by the Local Option levy, Foundation contributions, and deficit spending (drawdown of
ending fund balances). As costs increase with PERS rates, other cost reductions must be implemented
and/or tuition revenue must increase to fully offset this expenditure.
Recommendation:
 Increase class size to full capacity - Some Grade School classes have 16 students while other are
over 24 students. Increase the number of students in the 16 student class to a full class size of
24. Evaluate the cost of continuing small class sizes and how that is funded. Evaluate the
impact to changes in class size, both the effect on desired programs and specifically the
potential negative impact on revenue related to the ability to maintain and increase the number
of tuition paying students. Consider the Marketing Team’s comments that small class sizes are a
draw to potential parents.
 Improve margin mix in class - Fill open positions with tuition paying students.
D.
Administration, Business and Technology Services
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 10
In comparing Riverdale School District spending per pupil to other Oregon districts, Riverdale spends
more on the categories of Central Administration, Principal’s Office, and Business/Technology Services
than any of the other comparison districts. Further breakdown by function is found in Appendix G.
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 11
Comparison of 2011-12 Budgeted Expenditures per Student
#
students
Gaston SD 511J
463
Central Admin
$
281
Business
Svc/Technology
Principal’s Office
$
817
$
611
Total
Administrative
Support Services
$
1,709
Sisters SD 6
1,211
259
559
526
1,343
Philomath SD 17J
1,631
162
499
341
1,002
Ashland SD 5
2,784
288
705
756
1,749
Sherwood SD 88J
4,959
201
497
650
1,347
Corvallis SD 509J
6,364
176
649
426
1,251
Lake Oswego SD 7J
6,750
175
591
264
1,031
8,479
147
498
254
244
586
454
$
1,285
941
$
2,427
West Linn-Wilsonville SD 3J
AVG
Riverdale SD 51J
574
Amount to reduce to meet
next highest district
# new tuition students
needed to offset
$
474
$
1,012
$
$186X574=$106,764
$195X574=$111,930
$185X574=$106,190
9.3
9.7
9.2
899
Source: ODE data
Fiscal Advisory Committee reviewed Colton and Corbett districts information and found the districts not comparable with Riverdale since the
high schools are not accredited.
Categories based on ChalkBoard Project, Open Books
Although the Oregon Department of Education requires that all districts use the same chart of accounts,
there may be some variation among districts. Also, the information includes only money that flows
through district bank accounts, not support from the ESD.
There are economies of scale in per student costs as the number of students increase. As well, some
small school districts achieve economies of scale by having adjacent learning facilities, thereby reducing
duplicative staffing.
Riverdale budgeted for 574 students, only 22 other Oregon districts fall in the student range of 400 to
700. In reviewing the cost per student, the committee kept in mind that smaller districts have a
proportionately larger cost per student for administrative functions. Also, the committee considered
the effects of increasing students to help reduce the cost per student for overhead items.
Reviewing total expenditures grouped by category offers a way to see the bigger picture about district
spending taking into account the variation. Open Books developed the categories based on input from
school professionals, business people, and parents to help the public gain deeper insight into school
finance.

The Central Administration category includes the amounts budgeted for the School Board, Superintendent’s
Office, planning, grant writing, statistics, central special education administration.
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 12


Principal’s Office includes amounts budgeted for the Principal, School Secretary, copier, and other general
school supplies.
Business Services and Technology category includes general business services , human resources, purchasing
support, communications, marketing, and technology.
The committee found that RSD budgets to spend more per student in each of these administrative
categories than the comparison districts. While some of the variation is due to geographic cost
differences, the committee recommends that the Superintendent consider ways of reducing these
administrative costs.
D.1.
Administration
Riverdale currently operates with a full-time Superintendent, Grade School Principal, and High School
Principal for a total of 3.0 FTE. The Oregon staffing average for districts with 400 to 700 students is 2.6
FTE total (Appendix H). Many parents expect the Principals and Superintendent to respond to concerns
immediately and to make exceptions in programs, curriculum and schedules throughout the school year.
This level of service is more expensive than in other districts. The goals of the district to provide an
excellent individualized education, align the curriculum, and continue to attract tuition paying students
add costs to the administrative functions. To match the next highest district in spending on Central
Administration, Riverdale would need to reduce $39,606. The kinds of expenditures in this area are the
legal fees, audit fees, election expenses, membership in Oregon School Boards Association, the
Superintendent, and the Superintendent/Board executive assistant. In the Principal’s Office category,
Riverdale would need to reduce by $111,930 to match the next highest district.
Recommendations

D.2.
Reduce Administrative Costs - Committee members recommend that the Superintendent look at
various scenarios to reduce overall administrative costs such as: a part-time Superintendent – or
part-time principal, assigning some of the current administrative functions to less expensive
counseling staff, one combined superintendent/principal position with a vice principal at each
school. Given that in comparison to administrative staffing at other districts is less than that of
Riverdale, the Superintendent needs to evaluate the structure and find a creative way to
maintain high quality programs at a reduced cost. While the committee did not feel that it had
enough hands on knowledge to determine which way might work best, our hope is to inform
future decisions regarding both the Superintendent position and the Grade School Principal
position openings.
Business Services and Technology
In the Business Services and Technology category, Riverdale outspends the next highest district by $185
per student or $106,190. Riverdale has artificially increased its Business Services and Technology
category (Human Resources) budget by $42,500 by assigning district-wide unemployment costs to a
central account. Distributing these costs by the function of the staff claiming unemployment would
move them to the Teaching and Student Resources category and reduce the Human Resources costs by
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 13
$74/per student. Staff plans to make this change beginning with the 2013-14 budget. Additionally,
Marketing costs add about $200 per student to Riverdale’s Business Services and Technology category.
Riverdale is unique in its reliance upon tuition paying students and transfer students to continue to
provide programs especially at the high school level. Specific marketing suggestions will show in a
separate set of recommendations.
Recommendation:

Reduce Cost of Business/Technology - Further outsourcing of business/technology support
functions should be pursued to determine whether it could result in less cost and/or better
services. The committee recognizes again that each of these possible changes would need to be
fully explored for any potential adverse effects prior to outsourcing. Specific areas to consider
include: technology services from key specialized providers (for computer lab, system, software,
hardware, website, network, data storage), the payroll processing to a third party provider,
tuition collection to a financial institution. A shared services agreement for business or
maintenance functions that other districts/MESD may be able to provide at lower cost.
Marketing support is included in the table of costs per student, but recommendations are
covered in an earlier section.
Conclusion
Committee members respectfully submit these recommendations to the Superintendent for his review.
The suggestions offered are not intended to replace careful administrator scrutiny and professional
expertise. The intent is that these suggestions will help guide the district through difficult budget
preparation for the next several years.
Fiscal Advisory Committee – Final Report
Page 14