LWSD 2020-2021 Operating Budget
Salary Expenditures - $286,864,775
Benefit Expenditures - $108,794,649
Salary & Benefits - $395,659,424
Total Expenditures - $461,523,257 (includes salaries and benefits)
86% of the Operating Budget is Salary & Benefits.
"Generally speaking, a school district spends between 80 and 85 percent of its entire budget on salaries and benefits, meaning only 15 to 20 percent remains to address all of the rest of the budget's priorities and needs." - www. aasa.org "School Budget 101." Our District appears well-managed.
LWSD has 30,500 students according to Dr. Holmen. The cost to educate each student is $15,131.
Is the Administration Leadership Team top-heavy and over paid? Of interest, 5% of District revenue is consumed by the Leadership Team.
- Bob Yoder, 1/27/2022, Sources: Public Record Request / Superintendent Barbara Posthumous, CFO.
Opinion
There are 3653 employees in the LWSD. 53% (1,925) are not teachers. There are 1,728 teachers. 10% of teachers are not vaccinated (Considering the mandate I assume they cannot teach in a class room). That leaves 1,556 vaccinated teachers.
ReplyDeleteWhen LWSD says it costs $15,131 to educate a student that obviously is based on their 3653 employees - the majority who are not teachers.
The average salary + benefits for a LWSD employee is $108,310. Do I think that is too high? ABSOLUTELY. RL, Cafe Chat, FB, 1/28/22
I’m not sure how you would define “money supporting students,” but I would say that all the money spent paying teachers, IAs, paraeducators, counselors, principals, office staff, bus drivers and the rest of the people that make school happen each day IS money spent supporting students. Education is a service delivered by people, not an item on a shelf that students help themselves to. ML, Cafe Chat, FB, 1/28/2022
ReplyDeleteThere’s probably too many administrators and other high-level employees that don’t actually perform any real task. They collect information and generate obscure reports that don’t get looked at.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, teachers salaries are probably low or maybe about right for senior teachers. It’s all the extra employees that cause the massive cash outlay.
I think administrators should be wholly cut and their numbers kept to a small percentage of the entire staff. Then use those savings to increase teacher salaries and attract the best teachers, as well as increase student investment per-capita.
Redmond Neighbors, FB, 1/28
Ok so I agree that the people up the chain make too much for the value they provide but honestly we have got to stop demonizing school levies. Our schools are operating in a third world environment. I regularly get emails from teachers begging for parents to go through junk drawers to send in usable pens and pencils. For all the nonsense WA state spends money on, the school funds are a nothing burger. Vote yes please! So my kid can find a usable toilet and other kids can have pencils.
ReplyDeleteFB, Education Hill of Redmond
The levies only pay for what the state doesn't cover like more school nurses and counselors desperately needed during this time as well as all school construction. We are currently behind on housing all children because we are growing fast and one or more previous levies were voted down. Teacher salaries should go up, but they are paid by the State, so the legislature is who we have to lobby about that. The levies are about what the state doesn't cover.
ReplyDeleteFriends of Neighborhood Blog, FB