District Values
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SampleValuesofaDistrictPresentation1.pptxValues of a District
What does a school district’s budget reveal about its values and priorities?
Based on Orting Middle School
District Mission:
“All students ready for college, career and life”
Top 3 District Strategic Goals
Ensure the academic success for each student by...
integrating and improving strategies for powerful teaching and learning
managing and improving effective operations of the district
collaborating and improving communication with stakeholders
(Budget Guidelines, 2019)
The Orting School District mission is as follows: “All students ready for college, career and life.” The district has created its top three strategic goals in service of this mission. The goals are to help ensure to academic success for each student. If this mission and set of goals are to be true, then these values should also be reflected in the district’s budget. Owings & Kaplan (2020), suggest that a budget is a simple reflection of priorities and values of the district and community. Part of determining budget needs is reflecting on student demographics, student needs, and community values to create goals and objectives that will assist budget decisions (Owings & Kaplan, 2020). Orting has taken the time to create broad goals and objectives for student achievement based on community values, and as we investigate the budget summary further, these values should be reflected.
Orting School Districts’ Budget Criteria
Does it provide direct instruction to students?
Does it enhance student achievement?
Does it provide for the maintenance of usable facilities?
Does it maintain an agreed upon minimum standard and/or service?
(Budget Guidelines, 2019)
To help Orting School District stick to their values and objectives, a budget criteria list was created. These four questions are to be asked for each budget item to ensure that monies are being spent where the district needs them to be spent based on their mission and objectives. After reading through the budget, one should be able to cross check each item with this checklist and find that the criteria matches the largest investments made by the district.
Breakdown of the General Fund Budget
2020-2021
Largest Share
Strategic goal #1
(Budget Summary, 2020)
Second Largest Share
Strategic goal #2
Starting with a basic breakdown of the general fund budget for 2020-2021 into broad categories. The largest share of the money, 70.37% is spent on “Total Teaching.” The district defines “Total Teaching” as budget spent in and on the classroom, such as teacher salary, teaching materials, professional development and curriculum development; therefore, it makes sense that the largest portion of district revenue is spent in this category. This overwhelming majority seems to support the district strategic goal of integrating and improving strategies for powerful teaching and learning, which is strategic goal number one. The second largest share, Central Administration, followed closely by Maintenance and Operations, is in service of district strategic goal number two; strategic goal number two support the management and improvement of effective operations of the district. Operations of the district includes the business administration and support of the central administration as well as the physical support of maintenance and operations, such as technology support and building safety. Based off the general fund breakdown, it would seem that Orting School District certainly values and supports the first two of its strategic goals.
| Category | 2017-2018 Budget | 2018-2019 Budget | 2019-2020 Budget | 2020-2021 Budget |
| Total Teaching | 68% | 66% | 69.24% | 70.37% |
| Maintenance & Operations | 8% | 10% | 7.32% | 7.26% |
| Building Administration | 6% | 5% | 5.46% | 5.31% |
| Central Administration | 9% | 9% | 8.96% | 8.24% |
| Food Service | 2% | 3% | 2.28% | 2.00% |
| Transportation | 4% | 4% | 4.15% | 4.4% |
| Other Programs | 3% | 3% | 2.60% | 2.60% |
(Budget Summary, 2017; Budget Summary, 2018; Budget Summary, 2019; Budget Summary, 2020)
Let’s take a deeper look into the general fund budget by looking at past trends. This chart shows the evolution of Orting School District’s general fund budget dating back to the 2017-2018 school year. I have highlighted the largest portion, Total Teaching, to show that with the exception of the 2018-2019 school year, this portion of the budget is slowly increasing. This increase suggests that a shift may be occuring in Orting’s values. While a whopping 10% of the budget was spent on Maintenance in 2018-2019, this number has decreased to just 7% in the last couple school years, allowing for more of the budget to be spent on classroom instruction. Even with the changes, it remains consistent that Total Teaching, Central Administration and Maintenance and Operations takes up the top three spots for the district’s budget, supporting the first two district strategic goals.
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020)
It is important, of course, to dive a little deeper into the details of budget in terms of programs. On this slide, you can see a list of programs funded by the district for the fiscal year 2020-2021. I have highlighted the programs that I believe, based on my observation of the district budget, are notable in terms of communicating district priorities and values. Although, as Owings & Kaplan (2020) share, each of these items could certainly shed light on the direction of a school district and its top priorities, I will be focusing on the highlighted items.
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020; Orting School District Report Card, 2021)
VALUE: English Language Learners
Hispanic/Latino students = 2nd largest population & growing
Many are language learners
Value education of diverse students
Supports budget criteria #2
Supports district strategic goal #1
Starting with Limited English Proficiency, Federal and Transitional Bilingual. These programs provide funds for English Language Learners, which happens to be a rising demographic in the Oring School District. Though White students make up an overwhelming majority of the total population, the second largest population according to the 2021 Orting School District Report Card from OSPI is Hispanic/Latino students, many of whom are language learners. Just in the last few years, language learners have been an increasing population for Orting, which has pushed Orting to expand its services for English as a Second Language. This number, increasing from 47,410 to 134,865 and the addition of Federal program contribution in just the last couple years shows that Orting certainly values education of diverse students. This also supports budget criteria number two, enhancement of student achievement, and strategic goal number one, powerful teaching and learning.
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020;Orting School District Report Card, 2021)
VALUE: LAP and Gifted Students
ESEA Title 1 & Learning Assistance Program (LAP) - assistance for students struggling to meet standards in math/reading
55% of students met ELA standards
36% of students met math standards
Newly growing highly capable program
Supports budget criteria #1-2 and strategic goal #1
Support the growth of all students
Another notable budget area is ESEA Title 1, Federal assistance for students struggling to meet standards in math and reading, Learning Assistance Program, a state assistance for the same category of students, and the highly capable program. Orting has a large number of students struggling to meet standards in both ELA and math, with only 55% of students meeting standard in ELA and 36% of students meeting standard in math. The growing number of funds used to support these programs is essential for supporting the district’s strategic goal of improving teaching and learning. Additionally, the district has recently supported a program for gifted students, increasing from 25,484 to 78,658 in just the last few school years. This increase certainly shows a large priority for the district in supporting gifted students. Each of these programs support the growth of all students in Orting, not just the average. Orting, based on the budget, values meeting standards in math and English, as well as growing the abilities of highly capable students.
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020)
Value: Special Education Services
Includes:
paraeducators, psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, materials & supplies
Supports mission of “all students ready…”
Supports budget criteria #1, 2 and 4
Supports strategic goal #1
The support of special education services is certainly a value of the district, judging by the amount of money allocated and used, which is increasing over the last few years from 2,950,611 to 5,957,320. This money supports the services of support staff such as paraeducators, psychologist, speech therapists etc., and supplies special education students with the materials they need to achieve. This expenditure demonstrates the value Orting places on providing adequate services to ALL students. While some districts may provide the bare minimum for their special education department, Orting prioritizes it. Not only does this show support for budget criteria one and two, as the other programs did, but also budget criteria number four, maintain an agreed upon minimum standards or service.
Value: Vocational Programs
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020)
Work skills programs
business/marketing, trades, family consumer science, technology
Provides increasing opportunities for students
Supports district mission - students ready for college, career and life
Supports budget criteria #1-2
Vocational programs are another priority and value for the district. Vocational programs are work skills programs such as business and marketing, trade work, family consumer science and technology. These are the programs that provide students with experience and training for future possible careers and is a huge opportunity for students, especially in a smaller district such as Orting. Vocational programs support the district’s mission of students ready for college, careers and life, with an emphasis on the career portion of the mission.This expenditure shows that Orting is prioritizing and supporting its mission for students, and supports budget criterias one and two, providing direct instruction and enhancing student achievement.
Athletics and Clubs
| Expenditure | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 (COVID Consideration) | 2020-2021 |
| Athletics | 81,619 | 63,020 | 66,818 |
| Clubs | 116,031 | 66,850 | 112,885 |
(Fiscal Year 2020-2021, 2020)
Large support for extracurricular activities
Dedication to clubs
Supports and prioritizes the interest of all students
Looking at the Associated Student Body (ASB) fund and focusing on athletics and clubs, two of the biggest expenditures in this category, one can see the large support for student extracurricular activities. One may expect to see the athletics number to be much larger than that of the clubs, but in Orting, it is the opposite. Apart from the 2019-2020 school year, in which a consideration for COVID should be observed, the budget for clubs is decently larger than that of athletics. This demonstrates a values for the interests of all students, not just student athletes. Clubs are designed to target the interests of the entire student body, so that everyone may find something that suits them. By servicing clubs through the budget, Orting is demonstrating its commitment to supporting the needs and interests of all students.
Budget & Values Summary
A budget is a “snapshot” of what we spend and where we spend it, and this snapshot reflects our priorities at the time (Owings & Kaplan, 2020, p. 245).
Orting School District…
Values all students
Supports all extracurricular interests
Invests in teaching and learning
Support its mission, goals and budget criteria
Owings & Kaplan (2020) state “A budget is a “snapshot” of what we spend and where we spend it, and this snapshot reflects our priorities at the time” (p. 245). By taking a brief look at Orting’s budget, both in the 2020-2021 school year and in previous years, a snapshot of the district’s priorities is taken and reveals what Orting values and prioritizes. Orting School District’s budget shows that the district values all students, by providing increasing funding to programs that support English Language Learners, struggling readers and mathematicians, gifted learners and special education students. The budget shows that Orting supports its mission by providing substantial funding to vocational programs that provide career training to students. The budget also shows that Orting support all curricular interests by allocating more funding to clubs than athletics, but giving adequates sums to each. Additionally, the budget reveals that Orting is invested in the quest for better teaching and learning by allocating over 70 percent of the general fund to servicing classroom needs, and supports the objective, goals and criteria that was created by the district. Overall, the district’s budget shows that the district doesn’t just set missions, goals, objectives and criteria for nothing, it uses them to inform critical budget decisions.
References
Budget Guidelines (2019). Orting School District. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Budget Summary (2017). Orting School District Business Services. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Budget Summary (2018). Orting School District Business Services. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Budget Summary (2019). Orting School District Business Services. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Budget Summary (2020). Orting School District Business Services. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (2020). Orting School District Business Services. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.ortingschools.org/Page/414.
Orting School District Report Card (2021). Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (n.d.). https://www.k12.wa.us/.
Owings, W. A., Kaplan, L. S. (2020). American public school finance (3rd Ed.). Routledge.
