CADIE reports compares school funding

By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Donald Zimring, deputy superintendent of Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD), recently presented to the board of education a Comparative Analysis of District Income and Expenditure (CADIE) report.

The report is compiled yearly by the state School Services of California to identify trends and patterns. The report compares LVUSD with 17 other similar school districts, including those in Oak Park, Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Malibu/Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Irvine and others. According to the report, LVUSD is similar to the comparison school districts in attendance, fiscal structure and socioeco-nomics. This article will focus only on school districts in Conejo Valley, Moorpark and Simi Valley.

In the table on growth from 1998 through 2003, LVUSD was the slowest-growing school district in the region during the comparison period from 1998/1999 to the school year ending in 2003. LVUSD grew in average daily attendance (ADA) by 3.38 percent, ranking last in local school districts, but 14th of 21 for all comparable school districts.

Oak Park Unified School District (OPUSD) grew by 13.6 percent, and Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) followed with a 10.8 percent ADA growth rate. Simi Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) demonstrated an 8.07 percent growth rate, and Moorpark Unified School District (MUSD) grew by 6.09 percent during the time period studied.

"This (ADA growth) obviously provides greater flexibility in funding and resources," the report said. OPUSD was ranked the lowest (1.52 percent) in local schools for enrollment for free and reduced-cost meals, with LVUSD finishing second at 2.96 percent. The low numbers limits "categorical funds" to school districts. The average for comparative districts in this category is 27.64 percent, and the statewide average stands at 50.31 percent.

In CVUSD, 12.64 percent of students qualified for free or reduced- cost meals, while Moorpark topped the chart locally with 27.74 percent in this category. SVUSD’s student population has 17.27 percent qualifying for free or low-cost meals.

New data compared the number of students per computer in each school district. CVUSD ranked highest for local schools in this category at 4.23 students per computer. OPUSD came in last with 6.96 students per computer. LVUSD fared slightly better with 6.40 students per computer. Moorpark and Simi Valley were neck and neck with 5.58 and 5.69 respectively. The state average is 5.42.

Regarding restricted and unrestricted general fund revenues, SVUSD received the least amount of money per ADA—$5,151. OPUSD came in first for the area with $5,697. LVUSD fared better than Simi with $5,318, but lower than CVUSD with $5,551 and Moorpark came in with $5,364. The statewide average in this category is $5,604.

Several other categories were compared, including expense comparisons—district administrative costs, site administration, salaries, health and welfare expense, books and supplies and measurements of financial stability. Class sizes, special education enrollment and other information are also provided in the CADIE report.

Simi Valley had the highest costs for health and welfare benefits per student, followed by LVUSD. OPUSD had the lowest in the area.

Although LVUSD spent the least amount of money on books and supplies, Zimring explained that parent/faculty groups supplemented them.

Zimring said that if LVUSD were to reach the national average on funding, the district would receive an additional $10.5 million per year.

For further information and access to individual reports, visit www.sscal.com/cadie.htm.