1. Colorado Superintendents’ Modernized School Finance Formula
House Bill
Colorado Superintendents’
Modernized School Finance Formula
and its impact on the
Hanover 28
School District
The modernized school finance formula proposed by Colorado Superintendents aspires to provide all 178 Colorado school districts with an increased level of funding for all students, while at the same time establishing a more equitable distribution of funding for students who are underserved and/or face the greatest challenges to achieving Colorado’s Graduation Guidelines and finishing high school ready for college and career. Since passage of the existing Public School Finance Act of 1994, expectations of Colorado’s public schools have increased substantially both in terms of expected outcomes of students and levels of public accountability for schools and school districts. During this same period, the programming and services Colorado’s schools must provide to meet the increasing needs and challenges of students have also expanded exponentially. In response to these challenges, Colorado Superintendents began work on developing a school finance formula that supports the current needs of all of Colorado’s public schools and the students they serve

2. Background Better able to meet Graduation Guidelines and be
Career & College Ready
More equitable distribution of funding for students
Tools and Resources all students deserve to reach their full potential
Colorado Superintendents are the right people to work on a new formula for the distribution of funds to districts, because they have first hand knowledge of what it takes to meet the expectations set by communities and law makers.
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3. Values-Driven Update
Meet the needs of students
Recognize student differences
Provide resources for innovative solutions to challenges
Allocate resources to support graduation requirements
Streamline funding formula so it is transparent and easy to follow
Meet the needs of schools/communities
Recognize district size and geographic differences
Provide stability for basic functions so we can focus on innovative solutions
Supporting a quality educator in every classroom
Still recognize aspects of formula that are necessary
The creation of this distribution formula was guided by research of school finance formulas across the country and numerous interviews with Colorado educators determining what it takes to have sufficient resources to meet expectations of communities and Colorado law.
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4. Objectives Student-weighted Distribution
Recognizing District Differences
Students living in poverty
English Language Learners
Gifted and Talented students
Special Education needs
Cost differences related to size
Impacts of geography
Cost of doing business
Competitive teacher salaries
The Colorado Superintendent’s modernized school finance formula as it exists today was developed to achieve the following objectives:
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5. Equity & Adequacy Dual Focus
Student-centric Equity
Adaptability for:
Poverty
ELL
Special Education
Gifted and Talented
Full-day Kindergarten
Preschool
District Differences
Stability of communities
Solid base funding
Enrollment (size)
Distance from the metro area
Cost of doing business
Ability to hire and retain quality teachers in all schools
Equity
&
Adequacy
Here is another look at the balance of Equity and Adequacy. It is the balance of student-centric and district differences. It is the balance of student programming and the ability for every system to meet the needs of students even without specialized programs.
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6. Old to New Comparison 1994 Act Modernized Formula
Complicated formula (multiplicative and confusing)
Not tied to educational outcomes
Student characteristics considered outside of the formula
Heavily impacted by a cost of living adjustment
Accounts for impacts of size of district
Modernized Formula
More transparent (additive and simple)
Built on current expectations of schools
Needs of students are the central focus of the new formula
Student-centric
Accounts for impacts of different size school districts
Our state has changed over the past 20 plus years. The expectations on our schools have changed significantly as well. The Superintendents’ Modernized School Finance Formula’s greatest change is shifting from a formula that was not tied to educational outcomes to a system that is primarily focused on the programming needs of students to get them to meet our new statewide graduation requirements.
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7. What does it look like for my school district?
Impact for Hanover 28 School District
These numbers are based on non-partisan Legislative Council’s analysis of House Bill and incorporates enrollment figures as of February The numbers are subject to change during this process.
Now for the question that has been on your mind since the first slide. What would this modernized formula mean to us?
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8. Additive, Student-centric Formula
The math in this modernized formula changed significantly too. The 1994 formula had factors multiplied against each other making the order of operations very significant, and drastically compounding the impacts of the first parts of the formula. This formula is primarily additive, putting the student characteristics is weighted by the value in the formula, not in the order in which is placed in the math. Transparency of the formula was a goal as well.
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9. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
Modernized Formula
Total Number of Pupils
290
Special Education Students 43
Students in Poverty
166
English Language Learners 41
Gifted and Talented Students 3
Pre-K Students 26
Notes to Presenters:
Take time to verify your numbers prior to the presentation. Know these numbers come from CDE data pulls and therefore are not necessarily your best current number, but rather the best number submitted in a count previously. If you find that the numbers are significantly different, contact the Superintendents’ Planning Group or the Colorado School Finance Project.
Walk your audience through the numbers on the next few slides.
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10. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
Base Per Pupil Funding ( students) (Excludes Online and Extended High School)
$6,546.20
Total District Base Funding for students grades PK-12
Includes:
Kindergarten Funding (Full-day = 1 FTE Half-day = .5 FTE)
Pre-K Students Funding (.5 of base amount for students served)
$ 1,883,996
Notes:
In the modernized formula, Kindergarten funding reflects the kind of program you offer. If you offer half-day kindergarten, it is 0.5 funding. If you offer a full-day kindergarten program, you receive full funding, 1.0.
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11. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
English Language Learners Funding (Adjusted for size for smallest districts) (Excluding NEP) (Range: .35 to .29 of base) 41
0.35 of base
$ 93,938
Gifted and Talented Funding (Adjusted for size for smallest districts) (Range: .18 to .15 of base) 3
0.18 of base
$ 3,535
Poverty Funding (Federal requirements of free and reduced lunch)
166
.31 of base
$ 336,867
Notes
The factor funding for ELL, GT and Poverty reflects district size.
There is an efficiency with district size which impacts specialized programming. It costs more per student to educate 20 gifted students than it does if the district has 100 gifted students.
Therefore, the funding has a different weight if you are an extremely small school district. Schools under 495 students receive the higher weight, school larger than 1700 students get the smaller weight, and all schools in between are on a consistent slope so that the weight reflects the enrollment.
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12. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
Special Education Students Funding Tier A - Mild (Adjusted for size for smallest districts) (Range: .38 to .67 of base) 36
0.60 of base
$ 141,398
Special Education Students Funding Tier B - Moderate (Adjusted for size for smallest districts) (Range: .88 to 1.27 of base) 7
1.18 of base
$ 54,072
Total from Student-centric Factors (Excludes Categoricals: Severe Special Education, NEP, CTE and Transportation)
$ 629,810
Notes
The factor funding for ELL, GT and Poverty reflects district size.
There is an efficiency with district size which impacts specialized programming. It costs more per student to educate 20 gifted students than it does if the district has 100 gifted students.
Therefore, the funding has a different weight if you are an extremely small school district. Schools under 495 students receive the higher weight, school larger than 1700 students get the smaller weight, and all schools in between are on a consistent slope so that the weight reflects the enrollment.
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13. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
Base Funding (based on pupil count of )
$ 1,883,996
Total from Student-centric Factors
$ 629,810
Cost of Living Adjustment (Maximum factor value of 5%)
$ 91,318
Size Adjustment (if applicable and based on enrollment)
$ 1,753,643
Notes:
To show the formula on one slide, all the student-centered factors are totalled from the other pages into one number here so you can see how they are added to the base before the cost of living adjustment and the size adjustment.
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14. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
Online / Extended High School Students
$ 12,438
Minimum funding equal to 95% of statewide average (If applicable and follows current state statute)
$ -
Hold Harmless (if applicable)
NEW Total Program Funding (TPF)
$ 4,371,205
Notes
Not every district is subject to Minimum Funding. This is a component that is in current law.
Only 7 districts with unique situations recieve hold harmless funding. This is designed to make sure that despite local characteristics, every school receives funding at a minimum of prior to the Budget Stabilization Factor (Negative Factor).
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15. Impact for Hanover 28 School District
What is currently funded to Hanover 28 under 1994 SFA:
$ 2,943,037
What would be funded under the Modernized School Finance Formula:
$ 4,371,205
Impact for Hanover 28 School District
(Total Program Funding does not include categorical funding for Special Education, ELL, GT, CTE, Transportation and Small Attendance Centers)
(New Total Program Funding includes funding for ELL, GT and Mild/Moderate Special Education)
Notes:
This slide shows the impact compared to what you receive today.
Your “Current” funding is after the Budget Stabilization Factor (formerly Negative Factor)
This is displayed this way because it is the true comparison of what you are able to buy with your dollars today compared to what you will be able to buy under this system if funded
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16. What Questions Do You Have?
Call Superintendent, Dr. Grant Schmidt OR
Tell You Legislators to Vote YES !!
Senator Kevin Grantham
Representative Paul Lundeen
Representative Lois Landgraf
House Bill
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