⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 11 findings
F1
There are 40 school districts in this county with over 72,000 students and budgets totaling over $500 million.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Sonoma County has 1.2% of California’s students, but 3.8% of its districts. Of the 58 counties in California, only four (Kern, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tulare) have more school districts than Sonoma County. San Francisco County has one.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Sonoma County district populations range from a single-school district with 11 students to a multi-school district with nearly 13,000 students.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Sonoma County spends approximately $7750 per student; this is close to the California and national averages. By contrast New York state spends about $11,000 per student. Testing performance
No recommendations for this finding
F5
California SAT scores rank below the national average in verbal testing and slightly above in math.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Sonoma County ranks only slightly above state and national averages in SAT and STAR testing. 58
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Multi-school elementary districts rank higher than single-school districts in academic performance. Smallest districts rank the lowest. (See footnote 1) Administrative efficiency
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Using information gathered from the Educational Efficiency Initiative, Sonoma County’s average cost for administration is about 6.1% of the total education budget.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Administrative costs vary significantly from district to district (3.6%-15%).
Related Recommendations (4)
R1
All districts should review opportunities for sharing costs and services with neighboring districts (e.g. bus, food, administration, etc.) This includes reviewing all overhead costs. All reviews should be submitted to the County Superintendent of Schools
R2
The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools should assume a stronger, more proactive role in evaluating, encouraging, and implementing multi-district cost sharing and consolidation.
R3
Administrators, school boards, and voters, especially in districts with the highest administrative expense percentage, need to look at the bigger picture and move beyond politics. They should better balance their high expenses for administration against those that directly benefit students.
R4
The County Superintendent of Schools should conduct an objective countywide study, using an independent consultant, to determine the best strategy for sharing costs, consolidation, and unification. Required Responses to Findings Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools: F1 through F11 Petaluma City Schools Superintendent/Sonoma County Superintendent-elect: F1 through F11 Required Responses to Recommendations Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools: R1 through R3 Petaluma City Schools Superintendent/Sonoma County Superintendent-elect: R1 through R4 All District School Boards: R1, R3 All District School Superintendents: R1, R3 1 Academic Performance Index mean score by school district type: · Small single-school elementary districts (less than 100 students): 734 · Larger single-school elementary districts: 768 · Multi-school elementary districts: 791 2 Administrative expense by school district type: · Small single-school elementary districts: 9.4% · Larger single-school elementary districts: 9% · Multi-school elementary districts: 7.6% · High school districts: 5.1% · Unified (K-12): 5.5% 60
F10
Administrative costs, as a percent of total budget, averaged much lower in multi-school districts than in single-school districts. (See footnote 2)
No recommendations for this finding
F11
The 10 districts spending the most on administration range from 15% to 9.6% as shown below: Kashia Elementary 15.0% Guerneville Elementary 11.7% Geyserville Unified 11.2% Harmony Union Elementary 10.9% Rincon Valley Union Elementary 10.3% Forestville Union Elementary 10.3% Montgomery Elementary 10.2% Bennett Valley Union Elementary 9.9% Wilmar Union Elementary 9.7% Monte Rio Union Elementary 9.6% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% Conclusions · Higher administrative spending does not necessarily result in higher scores. · Single-school elementary districts spend a much higher percentage on administration AND they perform lower in testing than multi-school districts. · The largest districts in general spend a lower percentage on administration than do the smallest districts. · Reducing administrative costs in the high-administration districts to the county average can increase funds available for instruction expenses. (Example: Rincon Valley could produce greater than $500,000 per year.) · Sonoma County has far too many school districts for its demographics. · Collaboration among districts (sharing of services) can be a powerful move toward lowering costs or increasing share spent on instruction. · Consolidation and unification of school districts should be seriously evaluated. 59
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 7
-
CL1 Page 3Higher administrative spending does not necessarily result in higher scores.
-
CL2 Page 3Single-school elementary districts spend a much higher percentage on administration AND they perform lower in testing than multi-school districts.
-
CL3 Page 3The largest districts in general spend a lower percentage on administration than do the smallest districts.
-
CL4 Page 3Reducing administrative costs in the high-administration districts to the county average can increase funds available for instruction expenses. (Example: Rincon Valley could produce greater than $500,000 per year.)
-
CL5 Page 3Sonoma County has far too many school districts for its demographics.
-
CL6 Page 3Collaboration among districts (sharing of services) can be a powerful move toward lowering costs or increasing share spent on instruction.
-
CL7 Page 3Consolidation and unification of school districts should be seriously evaluated. 59
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Sonoma County County Superintendent of Schools
Elected County Office