FY2013-14 Budget Book

469 Pages·2013·8.34 MB·English

by  Denver Public Schools

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Executive Summary

Denver Public Schools (DPS) is committed to meeting the educational needs of every student with great schools
in every neighborhood. The District’s goal is to provide every child in Denver with rigorous, enriching
educational opportunities from preschool through high school graduation. DPS currently serves more than 84,000
students in more than 190 schools across the City and County of Denver. Among these 84,000 students, more
than 72% are Hispanic or Black, and nearly 72% qualify for free/reduced lunch. Denver, similar to most major
urban school districts, has significant achievement gaps when comparing minority students and students in
poverty to their white and middle class peers. In order to raise the achievement of all students and close the
achievement gaps, DPS adopted the Denver Plan in 2005. The Denver Plan’s main elements are: Focus on the
Instructional Core, Great People to Drive Better Outcomes for Students, Deepening Engagement with Families
and the Community, Strategic Management of Financial Resources, and a Culture of High Expectations, Service,
Empowerment and Responsibility. Under the leadership of Superintendent Tom Boasberg and guided by the
tenets of the Denver Plan, DPS has become the fastest growing large school district in Colorado in terms of
enrollment and student academic growth.

One of the biggest obstacles to achieving the District’s goals over the last few years is the reduction in State
funding attributable to the economic recession. Currently, annual funding for K-12 education is approximately
$1.0 billion below what would be considered fully funded for the State of Colorado, or over $102 million below
fully funded for DPS. Despite these cuts, DPS manages to keep cuts out of the classroom by using one time
reserves built up over the past decade through prudent financial management. DPS is one of the only major
districts in Colorado to avoid wide spread layoffs or furlough days. However, economic growth in Colorado, and
specifically the City and County of Denver, has slightly improved funding for FY 2013-14 over the previous year.
Home values have appreciated nearly 8% year over year and unemployment is 7.3% for Denver as of April 2013.
In addition to State funding, local property taxes are a main source of funding for DPS. The District’s FY 2013-
14 per pupil revenue increased $187 to $7,045 over FY 2012-13. In November 2012, the voters of Denver
approved a mill levy override ballot initiative for $49 million of additional funding for DPS to support enrichment
programs, early childhood education, instructional support and classroom technology.

In FY 2007-08, DPS implemented Student Based Budgeting (SBB) as a school funding system where dollars
follow students to the schools they attend. SBB has evolved significantly over the course of the last six years. As
an example of one SBB initiative for the FY 2013-14 school year, the District transitioned to funding kindergarten
students at 1.0, the same as students in grades 1-12. Additionally, since the inception of SBB DPS has been able
to reduce its central overhead budget to 5% of its General Fund expenditures. In other words, 95% of the
District’s operating budget is either spent directly in schools or in direct support of schools.

Over the coming years, the main fiscal challenge to DPS will be the State’s ability to increase K-12 funding. The
Colorado legislature recently approved a future Public School Finance Act to increase K-12 funding and provide
additional funding to school districts with high concentrations of English Language Learners and at-risk students,
such as DPS. However, the new act will not go into effect in FY 2015-16 unless a ballot measure for $1.0 billion
in additional statewide taxes is passed by popular vote in November 2013. If the State collects sufficient revenue
to increase per pupil funding, DPS will strengthen its financial position to be able to make the necessary
investments to increase academic performance in all schools across the District. Given that the District will have
expended approximately $15 million of fund balance in FY 2012-13 and plans to expend another $19 million in
FY 2013-14, DPS will not be in a position to maintain current funding levels in subsequent years unless per pupil
revenue is increased significantly to pre-recession levels.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introductory Section ___________________________________________________________ i
Letter from the Chief Financial Officer ___________________________________________ 1
GFOA Award for FY 2012-13 Adopted Budget Book ________________________________ 3
Introduction _________________________________________________________________ 4
Mission of the District ________________________________________________________ 7
Budget Cycle and Calendar ____________________________________________________ 9
Economic Outloook _________________________________________________________ 12
Increase in Pupil Count Compared with State Funding ______________________________ 16
School-Based vs. Centrally Allocated Resources ___________________________________ 17

Organizational Section ________________________________________________________ 21
Organizational Charts ________________________________________________________ 22
Senior Denver Public Schools Staff _____________________________________________ 24
Board of Education __________________________________________________________ 37
Introduction to the Denver Plan ________________________________________________ 49
2010 Denver Plan ___________________________________________________________ 51
District Initiatives Drive Financial Policy ________________________________________ 58
Lawson Enterprise Financial Management ________________________________________ 59
Leading Effective Academic Practice ____________________________________________ 60
Colorado READ Act _________________________________________________________ 61
Additional Initiatives ________________________________________________________ 62

Financial Section _____________________________________________________________ 65
Financial Policy ____________________________________________________________ 66
Budget Message ____________________________________________________________ 68
Fund Types ________________________________________________________________ 69
Basis of Budgeting and Accounting _____________________________________________ 70
Legal Debt Margin Information ________________________________________________ 70
Colorado Standard Chart of Accounts ___________________________________________ 71
Student Based Budgeting _____________________________________________________ 73
2012 Mill Levy Override Program ______________________________________________ 76
Funding Overview of Early Childhood Education and Full Day Kindergarten ____________ 77
District Compensation _______________________________________________________ 78
PERA Merger ______________________________________________________________ 81
Consolidated Fund Summary __________________________________________________ 82
Consolidated Summary of Fund Appropriations ___________________________________ 84
Fund Balance Description _____________________________________________________ 85
FY 2013-14 Use of Fund Balance ______________________________________________ 86

Funds Section _______________________________________________________________ 87
General Fund ______________________________________________________________ 88
General Projects Fund ________________________________________________________ 96
Pupil Activity Fund _________________________________________________________ 100
Government Designated Purpose Grants Funds ___________________________________ 105
Special Revenue Fund ______________________________________________________ 110
Denver Public Schools Capital Program_________________________________________ 115
Bond Redemption Fund _____________________________________________________ 124
Capital Projects Building Funds _______________________________________________ 130
Capital Reserve Fund _______________________________________________________ 135
Food Services Fund ________________________________________________________ 140
Warehouse Internal Service Fund ______________________________________________ 145
Risk Management Internal Service Fund ________________________________________ 150
DOTS Service Bureau Internal Service Fund _____________________________________ 155
Private Purpose Trust Fund ___________________________________________________ 158
ProComp Trust Special Revenue Fund __________________________________________ 163
Permanent Fund ___________________________________________________________ 168
Student Activity Fund _______________________________________________________ 173
District Fund and Department Relationship ______________________________________ 174

Schools Section _____________________________________________________________ 175
SBB Methodology _________________________________________________________ 176
Summary of Allocations _____________________________________________________ 177
Types of Schools ___________________________________________________________ 184
School Performance Framework_______________________________________________ 185
School Summary Reports ____________________________________________________ 186

Departments Section _________________________________________________________ 327
Department Summaries ______________________________________________________ 328
Department Summary Reports ________________________________________________ 329

Informational Section ________________________________________________________ 365
Student Enrollment History __________________________________________________ 366
Graduation/Dropout Rate ____________________________________________________ 368
Unified Improvement Plan ___________________________________________________ 369
TCAP Testing Results ______________________________________________________ 371
Colorado ACCESS for ELLs Exam ____________________________________________ 373
Position Summary Schedule __________________________________________________ 374

Appendix Section ____________________________________________________________ 376
Glossary _________________________________________________________________ 377
School Year Calendar _______________________________________________________ 388
School Performance Framework 2012 __________________________________________ 389
City and County of Denver General Information __________________________________ 395
Organizational Charts _______________________________________________________ 401
2010 Denver Plan __________________________________________________________ 428
Additional General Fund Budget Schedules ______________________________________ 444
Additional GDPG Fund Budget Schedules _______________________________________ 454
Additional Special Revenue Fund Budget Schedules _______________________________ 456
Introductory Section

AdoptDeendve rB Puublidc Sgcheootls Book
FY 2013-14

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