The Funding Formula Technical Working Group met on September to 17th to continue with its work. This meeting felt more productive and many members of the group seemed to have a better hold on the tasks they were charged with. The group is still struggling with the definition of a school, as well as the central administration percentage allocation. The most encouraging part of the meeting was how committed to transparency many of the Working Group members are.
Items the working group came to consensus on:
- Calculate high-poverty enhancement funding based on a combination of the number and percentage of Free and Reduced-Price Lunch students
- Keep high-poverty enhancement spent at district discretion among schools within the district
- Use enrollment numbers from Basic Education Finance Task Force prototype school models (400 in elementary, 432 in middle, 600 in high schools)
- Generate and allocate funding at the district level
- Continue to round staff category FTEs to the thousandths place
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Use annual average FTE at the district level for enrollment reporting for now, explore at the school level
More ad hoc committees were formed in the hopes of tackling upcoming issues at a quicker pace (the committees will bring recommendations to the next FFTWG meeting, enabling faster decision making, we hope). Ad hoc committees will address the central administration percentage, implementation/phase-in, categorical programs, CTE/skill centers/Running Start, and substitutes/sick leave/HCA.
