Budget Questions/Answers
How much money is in the budget for consultants?
There is no line item for consultants in the budget. The purchased services accounts required by the state mandated accounting system to budget consulting expenses also include other types of purchase services. As of April 25, the district has spent approximately $220,000 for consulting services.
How many district credit cards are there and how much is being charged to them?
Our current procurement card program is managed under the auspices of the State Comptroller Genera Procurement Card Program with no fees or costs charged to the district. We have issued 145 cards at an approximate annual expenditure in 2007-2008 on the statements of $3,750,000.00 across all funds.
How many cell phones (and the amount being spent) are being paid for by the district and schools? Does the district coordinate the contract for these and have we gone out for competitive bids on them?
The district currently has a cell phone plan with Verizon using Federal Government cell phone pricing. Since we use the Federal pricing, competitive bids are not required. The district does, however, continuously monitor the costs of other plans to make sure this pricing remains the most advantageous.
The current expenditure for cell phones for the district is approximately $4,000 per month with $2,811 being charged to the General Fund. There are 76 phones issued and 56 are being paid for from the general fund.
How much money is in the budget for "in district" travel? How much money is in the budget for out of district travel?
The original general fund budget included approximately $400,000 for travel/mileage The State Accounting requirement does not differentiate between the cost of in-district mileage reimbursement, conference travel, travel-related expenses or out-of-district mileage reimbursement.
Some of the budgeted travel/mileage amount is included in a school's allocation amount. The school allocations were reduced by 5% during the year and some schools reduced their travel/mileage accounts. The current General Fund budget amount for all mileage and travel is approximately $340,000.
How much could be saved by not printing payroll stubs (have them available online)?
The paper and toner cost of printing direct deposits is about $3,300 per year. For those employees who are still receiving checks, the associated paper and printing cost is an additional $500.
How much do we spend on postage and are there opportunities there?
There is not a separate accounting requirement for postage - it is budgeted in various supply accounts. The district does budget in the General Fund $26,000 for middle and high school postage and $10,200 for elementary school postage in addition to their school allocations. The current recorded expense for postage mailed for the schools and district office through the district mailing system is approximately $75,000 across all funds.
How much is in the budget for "District" printing and publications?
The district printing/binding/copier budget is approximately $520,000.
How much money is spent by our district and schools on mailings and trinkets (shirts, pens, coffee cups, etc.)?
There is no line-item in the budget for shirts, pens, coffee cups or incidental items of this type. These would be budgeted under the accounting object code for supplies.
How much money do we spend for graduation and have we considered selling tickets to defray costs (first four tickets free):
The current budget in the General Fund for graduation is $36,000. The district has not considered charging admission.
How much do we spend on overtime and are there opportunities there?
During 2008-2009 as part of the reduction in spending effort associated with current budget cuts, overtime payment is no longer authorized. If in an extreme emergency, a non-exempt employee must work additional hours, the situation is handled with compensatory time.
How much do we contribute toward IB and AP exams?
The state pays $75.00 per AP and IB exam. This covers the total cost of AP exams for all students. However, IB exams are more expensive per exam. The cost each year is determined by the number of exams students take. In 08-09, the State paid a total of $44,992 for Rock Hill students' IB exams while the district paid $14,389 for its part of the IB exam fees.
How much do we spend printing High School course catalogs and can we put this online?
The printing of the high school course catalog is $9,715 for grades 10-12 and $2061 for grade 9. We provide a copy to every student because not all parents have access to our district website. The course catalog contains vital information about many topics including graduation, uniform grading policy, promotion requirements, as well as course information. The guide could be reduced in length to save money in the future.
Do we have materials needed for a few classes that we should be charging student fees for?
We do not charge fees for academic courses.
The district does not charge a band fee, but a fee is paid by the students to the Band Booster Club. We do provide fees for students on f/r lunch and could eliminate the f/r lunch band line item, but this may prohibit students from impoverished homes from participating in the band.
Do we have a minimum number of students required for advanced classes (primarily IB) and could we raise the minimum to save money? Should we get rid of the easy math class for IB?
We have a minimum number of 15 for all courses to "make." If an IB class falls below 15, we determine if there is a programmatic need to allow the course to make. If the students signed up for the course are not in the FULL DIPLOMA program, then we have always shut that IB course down because no one would be denied the IB diploma by our eliminating the course. We have closed IB French, IB German, IB Chemistry, IB Psychology, and IB Theater due to low numbers and no programmatic need to keep them. All other IB classes are carrying class sizes over 25, with the exception of IB Music at RHHS and NHS; however, students in those sections are going for the full diploma so we let them "make." It did not burden the teaching load to allow those two courses to make; rather, it gave the band director and strings teachers a full load to teach. Cutting the classes would have left these two teachers with one period short of a full teaching assignment.
IB Math Studies is not an "easy" math; it is a different math from pure Calculus. It combines a large portion of Pre-Calculus, some Calculus topics, and a significant portion of Probability and Statistics. It is a college level math course but designed for students with strengths in the liberal arts rather than the hard sciences and mathematics courses. Eliminating it would not save us money because the students would still have to take a math course, so those numbers would go into create another section of a course we already teach. Eliminating it would jeopardize some students' chances of earning the IB diploma, which we do not believe is in the best interest of our students.
How much is in the budget for professional development? For late start?
There is no line item for professional development or late start in the budget. The purchased services accounts required by the state mandated accounting system to budget these expenses include this and other types of purchased services if not provided by district office staff.
How much money is budgeted for contract work (cleaning, maintenance, grass cutting, etc.) and what are the major activities?
Custodial cleaning services $1,764,000
Operations $1,223,000
(pest control, lawn care, fencing, asbestos abatement, waste disposal, construction repairs) Operations $ 105,000
(environmental testing, engineering services, other professional services)
Fiscal Services $ 38,750
(technical support - financial & personnel software)
Fiscal Services $ 8,854
(Pitney-Bowes mail equipment - rental & maintenance)
Data Processing $ 26,000
How much money would we save in utilities if our "out of city schools", primarily Rock Hill High, Castle Heights, and Independence were in the city?
This issue has been reviewed before and the projections for each rate were similar. We will review it again and will present the results later.
How many district employees have access to vehicles at home? What is the cost for this?
Six employees - two will no longer be used after July 1. The cost will need to be estimated and will be available later.
How much does it cost to operate the pony for district communications? Is there a savings by reducing the frequency? Using a more fuel efficient vehicle?
Annual Personnel Cost $37,000
Vehicle cost estimated at 75 miles per day, 200 days per year and $.50 per mile = $7,500
How many people have exited TERI? How much money would be saved if those employees were restricted to making no more than someone with 28 years experience?
64 teachers have (or will have by 8/12/09) exited TERI. No money would be saved, since the Teacher Pay Scale only has 25 cells and teachers with 25 or more years experience are held to that level each year.
How much do we spend on our email servers and spam filter? What would be the cost of converting to Gmail?
Our email system, GroupWise, is included with our Novell licensing. GroupWise runs as a resource on an existing server.
The district has not considered an alternative to GroupWise because there would be no cost savings except for support.
The annual license cost for our email filtering system, Ironport, is $15,000.00 per year
How much do we spend on software licensing? Have we considered switching to open source programs instead?
Network licensing components: (Funding source is technology bond)
Novell licensing including Netware, Zenworks, and GroupWise - $2.00 per student
Symantec Antivirus/Spyware - $21,000.00 per year
St. Bernard iPrism (Internet filter which is CIPA compliant) - $15,675.00 per year
Ironport (email filtering) - $15,000.00 per year
Packeteer (Internet bandwidth shaping) - $5,400.00 per year
Application Licensing: (Funding source is Instruction)
Compass Learning - $108,000.00
Success Maker - $1800.00 per school (elementary and Rebound currently have the software)
Orchard - no annual license
Apex (virtual high school) - $75,000.00
Destiny (media center software) - $11,000.00
Other software: (Funding source is technology bond)
OrangeEd - district-wide website support and maintenance - $7,000.00
Enhanced classroom packages - $50,000.00 onsite parts and labor warranty for all classroom packages
The open source application that is being considered is Open Office. Currently, the district has a volume license agreement with Microsoft for Office at $42.00 one time fee for each computer.
What is the cost of 9th grade sports programs? Do any other 4A and 3A schools not have 9th grade programs? Can they play on the JV team?
Use handed down uniforms and equipment - travel with JV team, costs are
Coach supplement - Football = $73,908
Basketball =$21,000
There are limited opportunities for 9th graders to play on JV teams.
Many of the upstate teams in AAA have 9th grade programs - Lower-state most operate at least football and basketball. Also, depends on the region (location in the state)... Some AAA schools don't have the tennis, golf and swim teams.
We are not aware of any AAAA team without 9th grade programs; however, where successful programs exist, coaches build on middle and 9th grade skill sets. Nation Ford did not have a 9th grade team last season.
What is the cost/savings of combining 7th and 8th grade sports like they do for track and cheerleading currently?
Collapsing the grade levels would drastically reduce the number of students who could participate in sports programs.
Costs: Coach supplements
Coach supplements - Football $23,255
Basketball $29,980
Volleyball $6,990
Track $14,210
Cheerleading $5,800
How many days/hours should the high schools be open during the summer for the teams to come in and practice (with the same regards to lights/air and water as well as trainer costs)?
NHS - Most of our athletic teams will do some type of summer practice (mainly in June). Right now the month of June is busy with camps and some summer practice. July, we do not use the indoor facilities. City uses baseball and softball fields. We usually use the gyms for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple in evening. Most of our summer workouts are done by 6:00 pm - weight room is the only thing open after that - we will have a few basketball scrimmages that will be after six, but only four or five.
RHH - Monday-Thursday from 8 am to 10am and 5 pm-7 pm. With kids working, it would be hard to finish by 6. Football, cheerleaders, cross country are preparing for the season. The weight room is not air-conditioned and the lights go out automatically when no one is using the room.
South Pointe
Football workouts - June 8 thru July 30 (Monday - Thursday) 4 to 7 PM
Basketball workouts - June 8 thru June 30 (Monday - Thursday) 6 to 8:30 PM
Lil Stallion Basketball camp (Monday - Thursday) 9 AM - Noon
Stallion Basketball Shootout, June 19, 20 & 21 (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) 8 AM - 9 PM
Boys Basketball Shootout, June 27 (Saturday) 8 AM - 7 PM
Cheer Summer workouts - June 15 - July 1st (Monday - Thursday) 10 AM - 4 PM
Evening hours are cooler for work-outs, so our coaches are planning to use the evening hours for activities so that students can work summer jobs and not to interfere with summer school.
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