ESSA Financial Transparency Data Business Rules

P-12 Enrollment -Enrollment data, including prekindergarten students, are collected using the New York State Education Department's Student Information Repository System (SIRS). Enrollment counts are available for various demographic groups for public schools, districts, charter schools, counties, and the State. Enrollment counts are as of Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) day, which is typically the first Wednesday of October of the school year. Beginning with 2019-20 school year reporting, these counts do not include prekindergarten students enrolled in community-based organizations.

Needs Resource Capacity Categories -The need/resource capacity index, a measure of a district's ability to meet the needs of its students with local resources, is the ratio of the estimated poverty percentage (expressed in standard score form) to the Combined Wealth Ratio (expressed in standard score form). A district with both estimated poverty and Combined Wealth Ratio equal to the State average would have a need/resource capacity index of 1.0. For further information, please see http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/accountability/2011-12/NeedResourceCapacityIndex.pdf

District Ability to Raise Local Funds -This classification is calculated by dividing adjusted gross personal income of all taxpayers in the district (as reported on New York State income tax returns and including results of the statewide computerized income verification process) by total population within the district (as reported in U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). This figure is divided by the state average and separated into quartiles.

Student Needs -Student need is a weighted average of economically disadvantaged students (weighted at 1.3), students with disabilities (weighted at 1.41), and English language learners (weighted at 0.5). Weights parallel those utilized in Foundation Aid, as established in Education Law §3602. This student needs score is divided by the statewide average and separated into quartiles, which are labeled as significantly higher, slightly higher, slightly lower, or significantly lower than the statewide average.

Student-to-Teacher Ratio -ratio of K-12 enrollment to the number of classroom teachers in the school or district. Please note that K-12 enrollment are preliminary enrollment and as such may vary slightly from the final enrollment displayed on this report. Teacher information is collected annually from New York State Public Schools, BOCES, and Charter Schools.

Teachers with Fewer than 4 years of Experience % -The number of classroom teachers with fewer than 4 years of experience in the school or district, divided by the total number of classroom teachers in the school or district.

Teachers with 4-20 Years of Experience % -The number of classroom teachers with 4-20 years of experience, divided by the total number of classroom teachers in the school or district.

Teachers with 21+ Years Experience % -The number of classroom teachers with 21 or more years of experience, divided by the total number of classroom teachers in the school.

Spending Per Pupil: This School -The total non-excluded expenditures in the school divided by school enrollment, plus central expenditures divided by district or charter school enrollment.

Spending Per Pupil: This District -The sum of all non-excluded expenditures in all traditional public schools in the district, divided by district enrollment. For charter schools, the district of location value is displayed. These values do not include charter expenditures or enrollment.

Spending Per Pupil: This County -The sum of all non-excluded expenditures in all districts and charter schools in each county, divided by total county enrollment.

Spending Per Pupil: New York State -The sum of all non-excluded expenditures in all districts and charter schools across the state, divided by total enrollment for the state.

Excluded Expenditures -Expenditures which may not support students counted in the enrollment used to calculate the per pupil amount. These fall into five categories:

1. Transportation expenditures are excluded because districts are required to provide transportation services for nonpublic students. Since those students are not included in enrollment counts, districts are not expected to disaggregate transportation expenses by traditional public, nonpublic, and charter student. Accordingly, all transportation services are excluded.
2. Charter school enrollment is not included in the district enrollment figures, and these expenditures are excluded.
3. Tuition for students attending other school districts, specialized schools for students with disabilities, or BOCES full-time instructional programs are excluded, again because the enrollment is not included in district totals.
4. Debt service payments for bonds and other borrowing instruments that have been undertaken for capital projects and other purposes are excluded.
5. Other expenditures include certain funds such as the school food service fund and public library fund, plus services provided to nonpublic or charters schools and payments to community-based organizations for prekindergarten.

More Information

For more information on the accounting behind ESSA Financial Transparency, please see http://www.nysed.gov/essa/financial-transparency.