In the spirit of “finding the good and praising it” (how Alex Haley, author of Roots, once described his goal as a writer), here is a list of Pennsylvania school districts whose web pages offer ample servings of budget-related information.
I’ve listed about one site for every 10 I’ve visited. Because my focus is on budget issues, I’ve omitted sites that reveal little or nothing about expenditures and revenue, even if they display other kinds of data, like test scores. I’ve also passed over sites that publish only dribs and drabs of data, such as a district’s millage rate or its Act 1 ceiling. This list might be three times longer if it included sites that post budgets but without explanation. An online copy of a 20-60 pages of fine-print is better than nothing but, for most readers, not much better.
So far, here are my criticisms of most generally good sites.
– They’re apt to bury financial data under multiple layers of non-intuitive headings;
– They post key information in PowerPoint (.ppt) or Excel files, which many viewers can’t open.
– They report expenses in ways that don’t highlight costs uniquely identified with contract negotiations and hence don’t help the public understand the impact of proposals by either board or union. (I’ve created a separate category for districts that address this issue.)
By the end of 2008 I hope to look at the websites of every district in Pennsylvania. Until then, absence from this list doesn’t mean anything. There must be many informative websites that I haven’t seen yet. (Nominations invited, of course.)
Someone asked me if I’ve seen local union websites committed to public transparency. No. I’ve seen one or two with a few statistics (e.g., on a district budget or salary comparisons with a higher-paying district nearby), but none that give details on the union’s own proposal. That’s not necessarily a criticism. Unions are private interest groups and can’t be held to the same transparency standards that should apply to elected officials spending public money. However, if anyone points me to a local union website that scores high in the transparency department, I’ll be glad to list it here.
Sites with negotiations-oriented data (may close when negotiations end)
Neshamany SD (Bucks County) Especially good narratives. See my post on this blog. Or visit the board website.
Saucon Valley SD (Northhampton County) The board posts its own offer (but not the union’s) with a brief explanation. Charts in color help to clarify the current year budget. Here’s the district website.
Souderton SD (Montgomery County) The board has posted both its own and the union’s “best and final” offers to an arbitrator at a summary of negotiations history. The existing contract language appears, with proposed strike-outs in red and proposed new language in blue.
South Butler SD (Butler County) The board posted at the district webpage a summary of the competing proposals, a fact-finder report and (most remarkably) a detailed chart itemizing all teacher salary and benefits. See also my post on this blog.
Sites with user-friendly financial data, not negotiations-oriented
Armstrong SD (Armstrong County) As my post of 11/03/08 points out, the “Studies, Plans & Reports” section of this district’s website is exceptionally informative.
Avon Grove SD (Chester County) In addition to a budget and audit reports, the district website has a clear summary of budget issues. Also, bond issue statements are a plus.
Brandywine Heights SD (Berks County) has a district website that merits a place on the honor roll because of the range of fiscal data displayed. Its 2008-09 budget has more narrative than most districts bother to add.
Camp Hill SD (Cumberland County) Look for an 05/12/08 budget presentation on the district website. It’s both well done and easily downloadable as a .pdf file.
Central Bucks SD (Bucks County). The district website has an unusually clear PowerPoint presentation (.pdf format) of the budget for the 2009-10 school year. A post at this blog shows a sample expense page.
Central Columbia SD (Columbia County) Here’s the home page for the district website, where “Budget” is easy to find.
Columbia Borough SD (Lancaster County) From the home page find your way to financial report. Not easy to use, but as my post on this blog explains, useful. And ASBO award winner.
Conrad Weiser Area SD (Berks County) From the district home page go to the business office material. The budget presentation isn’t fancy, but it gets the job done.
Dallas SD (Luzerne County) The district website is clean and easy to follow, and financial reports are reachable via “Business Office” on the home page.
Derry Township SD (Dauphin County) An “About the Budget…” page serves as the gateway to district data. The site has nice graphics and an especially effective FAQ section.
DuBois Area SD (Clearfield County) A 2008 budget summary appears on the district website, but you need .ppt on your computer to read it.
Eastern York SD (York County) The district website has clear narrative explanations. Although links to budget material appear on the home page, they are easy to overlook.
Elizabethtown Area SD (Lancaster County) The district website contains a May 2008 budget presentation that’s one of the best that I’ve seen. See my posted comments for examples.
Fairfield Area SD (Adams County) A “finance” section of the district website contains a lot of fiscal information, including 5-year projections (a rarity). Most is in Excel spreadsheets or .ppt slides.
Fairview SD (Erie County) The website of this district is both complete and very easy to use. The district is one of a handful of award winners from the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO).
Fort Cherry SD (Washington County) The district has a clean, user-friendly website. Its budget access page provides an RSS feed for the 2009-10 preliminary budget — an unusual feature.
Great Valley SD (Chester County) This site, in addition to providing data, explains key issues in plain English. Here’s the district website. See also my post on GVSD on this blog.
Penn Hills SD (Allegheny County) The district website has a report with exceptionally clear narrative explanation of budget terms. See my posted comments for details.
Tuscarora SD (Franklin County) There’s an especially good summary of district budget trends in the form of a .pdf file.
West Chester Area SD (Chester County) This district website has an informative financial report with .pdf files elsewhere of basic budget documents. The district is a multi-year winner of the Meritorious Budget Award for Excellence from the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International.
