Assignment: Non Florida FTE Case Problem

In the State of XXX, funding of public education is handled through a Foundation program. The state funds a student at a weighted FTE value of $3,150. Based on a local school district's ability to raise property tax revenues through the "Fair Effort", the state provides the difference between the District's ability to raise funds and the state value of the students.

Students are counted two times throughout the school year, once in the fall (October) and once in the winter (February). Each student is funded for half their value in each count. This results in full funding for the student if included in both counts. If the student is counted in October and not in February, the local district is funded for half the value of the student.

In the State of XXX, students are funded in one or more programs, as set by the State Legislature. The Legislature annually sets the Program weights. Students can be funded in more than one program, although the total fractions for each of a student's program cannot exceed 1.0.

For students in special programs, the State of XXX funds students in the following categories:

* If the student is classified in more than one of these categories, both are counted. For example, if the student is both LD & requires SL services, the student would be .2 in 201 - SL, .4 in 202 - Mildly Disabled, and .4 in the basic program (see below). This insures some funding for the special programs.

** If the student is classified as ELL and receives services in either Pgm 201 or 202, the special education programs replace the segments in ELL. For example, for an ELL student who also has a Learning Disability, the student would be funded as .4 in 202 - Mildly Disabled, .4 in 150 - ELL, and .2 in the basic program.

The intent of the program weights is to provide additional funding from state sources to account for the excess cost of providing instructional programs for these students.

In addition to the special program weights, the following basic student programs/weights are applied to all students. Please note that a student cannot exceed 1.0 in total program categories. For example, a student receiving SL Therapy would be .2 in program 201 and the remainder of the funding (.8) in the base program (i.e. kindergarten - see below).

The state funds the difference between the "Fair Effort" and the value of the students from FTE. The State funds the cost of all Categorical Allocations at outlined below:

Based on the formula provided above, how much total funding, by category, would be generated for the following school scenario:

Calculating the FTE Value of the Students in a Typical Elementary School

Happy Trails Elementary School recently opened in your school district to serve students in grades Kindergarten through fifth. The students attend from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Each student receives a daily 30 minute lunch period, as well as 30 minutes per week of music, media, P.E., computer, and art. The school's enrollment is as follows:

Grade    Enrollment
K                145
1                140
2                155
3                163
4                166
5                158
Total           927

The school draws some of its population from a section of the county in which many of the residents do not use English as their primary language at home. To accommodate the diverse needs of the children from this population, ALL the regular education teachers at Happy Trails have completed the required in-service training to be able to provide English Language Learners (ELL) support. The school has two teachers hired to provide intensive ELL instruction. The ELL population is as follows:

Grade   ELL Students
K                12
1                10
2                12
3                13
4                15
5                14
Total           76

* ELL is often called Limited English Proficient (LEP) or English Speakers of (Other) Languages (ESL/ESOL). These terms are used interchangeably within the professional literature.

The school has a K-5 ESE population of 103 students. Many of these students are mildly disabled (Learning Disabled) or Speech/Language Impaired and are served in the regular classroom, with some " pullout" for direct instruction. Thirteen (13) of the students are Moderately Disabled and are enrolled in a self-contained special education program for all of their academic services. They do attend the regular PE, Art, Music, and computers with regular education students. The 55 Speech/Language students are seen by the SLP for an average of 60 minutes per week. None of the ESE students are ELL students, therefore the total ESE count is 103 and the LEP count is 76.

Grade  ESE Students      Type of Students  # Students    Kg  1  2  3  4  5
K      15 Speech/Language           55   12  12  7  8  9  7
1      18 Learning Disabled    35   2  4  5  8  8   8
2      14 TMH    13   1  2  2  3  3  2
3      19                       Total   103
4  20
5      17
Total      103   

In this school district, 75% of the students are eligible for transportation

In this school district, the "Fair Effort" property tax level raises $1,850 per student.

The student will produce a document that identifies

1. How much revenue is raised through the FTE calculations?

2. How much revenue is expected for the categorical allocations?

3. How much revenue is generated through the "Fair Effort" for the students at Happy Trails Elementary?

4. How much funding will the District receive from the State for the students at Happy Trails Elementary?

The student's submission will include charts/tables that identify the amount of revenue by program. The student should complete the document using Excel or use Tables in Word.