Folks in Alaska who pay attention to Alaska State Legislature budget discussions will often hear talk about the "Foundation Formula" and the "BSA" (Base Student Allocation). It all sounds relatively simple: The state provides a dollar amount per student, for each student in Alaska, for the purpose of educating that child. Oh, if only it were truly that simple! The State Foundation Formula is actually very complicated, and the way it plays out in the CRSD's various schools (because they are all so different) results in a complicated recipe for how our funding is calculated.
The following slide from our annual budget presentation attempts to lay out, in a step-by-step manner, how the Foundation Formula works. Basically, there are a number of adjustments and factors that come into play and, in the end, result in overall funding from the state. There is the School Size Adjustment, the District Cost Factor, a Special Needs Factor, the Vocational Education Funding Factor, consideration of the number of students enrolled in our Correspondence program (Upstream Learning), and finally, a multiplier for each of the district's students that qualify for "intensive" Special Education services.
The following slide from our annual budget presentation attempts to lay out, in a step-by-step manner, how the Foundation Formula works. Basically, there are a number of adjustments and factors that come into play and, in the end, result in overall funding from the state. There is the School Size Adjustment, the District Cost Factor, a Special Needs Factor, the Vocational Education Funding Factor, consideration of the number of students enrolled in our Correspondence program (Upstream Learning), and finally, a multiplier for each of the district's students that qualify for "intensive" Special Education services.
The following visual (also from our annual budget presentation) walks through how our actual projected funding is calculated via the funding formula. However, the complexity of the formula isn't done, as we must throw in some extra math to go from our "Average Daily Membership" (i.e., the number of students enrolled and in attendance in CRSD schools, based on the October count period) to our "ADM," or Adjusted Daily Membership, which is the number multiplied by the BSA ... which equals our "Basic Need" or the amount we receive in funding from the state.
Voodoo math? No, not really. There is a formula, but it is relatively complicated when one takes into account the number of "factors" and multipliers involved in the bottom-line number. One of the reasons early funding is so important for districts is because it is extremely difficult for REAAs to plan their budgets before we know what the BSA will be. Contact your legislators today and encourage them to fund education early so that districts across the state can plan for the coming school year with fiscal certainty!