THIS PAGE IS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK Executive Summary Denver Public Schools (DPS) is committed to meeting the educational needs of every student with great schools in every neighborhood. The District’s goal is to provide every child in Denver with rigorous, enriching educational opportunities from preschool through high school graduation. DPS currently serves more than 84,000 students in more than 190 schools across the City and County of Denver. Among these 84,000 students, more than 72% are Hispanic or Black, and nearly 72% qualify for free/reduced lunch. Denver, similar to most major urban school districts, has significant achievement gaps when comparing minority students and students in poverty to their white and middle class peers. In order to raise the achievement of all students and close the achievement gaps, DPS adopted the Denver Plan in 2005. The Denver Plan’s main elements are: Focus on the Instructional Core, Great People to Drive Better Outcomes for Students, Deepening Engagement with Families and the Community, Strategic Management of Financial Resources, and a Culture of High Expectations, Service, Empowerment and Responsibility. Under the leadership of Superintendent Tom Boasberg and guided by the tenets of the Denver Plan, DPS has become the fastest growing large school district in Colorado in terms of enrollment and student academic growth. One of the biggest obstacles to achieving the District’s goals over the last few years is the reduction in State funding attributable to the economic recession. Currently, annual funding for K-12 education is approximately $1.0 billion below what would be considered fully funded for the State of Colorado, or over $102 million below fully funded for DPS. Despite these cuts, DPS manages to keep cuts out of the classroom by using one time reserves built up over the past decade through prudent financial management. DPS is one of the only major districts in Colorado to avoid wide spread layoffs or furlough days. However, economic growth in Colorado, and specifically the City and County of Denver, has slightly improved funding for FY 2013-14 over the previous year. Home values have appreciated nearly 8% year over year and unemployment is 7.3% for Denver as of April 2013. In addition to State funding, local property taxes are a main source of funding for DPS. The District’s FY 2013- 14 per pupil revenue increased $187 to $7,045 over FY 2012-13. In November 2012, the voters of Denver approved a mill levy override ballot initiative for $49 million of additional funding for DPS to support enrichment programs, early childhood education, instructional support and classroom technology. In FY 2007-08, DPS implemented Student Based Budgeting (SBB) as a school funding system where dollars follow students to the schools they attend. SBB has evolved significantly over the course of the last six years. As an example of one SBB initiative for the FY 2013-14 school year, the District transitioned to funding kindergarten students at 1.0, the same as students in grades 1-12. Additionally, since the inception of SBB DPS has been able to reduce its central overhead budget to 5% of its General Fund expenditures. In other words, 95% of the District’s operating budget is either spent directly in schools or in direct support of schools. Over the coming years, the main fiscal challenge to DPS will be the State’s ability to increase K-12 funding. The Colorado legislature recently approved a future Public School Finance Act to increase K-12 funding and provide additional funding to school districts with high concentrations of English Language Learners and at-risk students, such as DPS. However, the new act will not go into effect in FY 2015-16 unless a ballot measure for $1.0 billion in additional statewide taxes is passed by popular vote in November 2013. If the State collects sufficient revenue to increase per pupil funding, DPS will strengthen its financial position to be able to make the necessary investments to increase academic performance in all schools across the District. Given that the District will have expended approximately $15 million of fund balance in FY 2012-13 and plans to expend another $19 million in FY 2013-14, DPS will not be in a position to maintain current funding levels in subsequent years unless per pupil revenue is increased significantly to pre-recession levels. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introductory Section ___________________________________________________________ i Letter from the Chief Financial Officer ___________________________________________ 1 GFOA Award for FY 2012-13 Adopted Budget Book ________________________________ 3 Introduction _________________________________________________________________ 4 Mission of the District ________________________________________________________ 7 Budget Cycle and Calendar ____________________________________________________ 9 Economic Outloook _________________________________________________________ 12 Increase in Pupil Count Compared with State Funding ______________________________ 16 School-Based vs. Centrally Allocated Resources ___________________________________ 17 Organizational Section ________________________________________________________ 21 Organizational Charts ________________________________________________________ 22 Senior Denver Public Schools Staff _____________________________________________ 24 Board of Education __________________________________________________________ 37 Introduction to the Denver Plan ________________________________________________ 49 2010 Denver Plan ___________________________________________________________ 51 District Initiatives Drive Financial Policy ________________________________________ 58 Lawson Enterprise Financial Management ________________________________________ 59 Leading Effective Academic Practice ____________________________________________ 60 Colorado READ Act _________________________________________________________ 61 Additional Initiatives ________________________________________________________ 62 Financial Section _____________________________________________________________ 65 Financial Policy ____________________________________________________________ 66 Budget Message ____________________________________________________________ 68 Fund Types ________________________________________________________________ 69 Basis of Budgeting and Accounting _____________________________________________ 70 Legal Debt Margin Information ________________________________________________ 70 Colorado Standard Chart of Accounts ___________________________________________ 71 Student Based Budgeting _____________________________________________________ 73 2012 Mill Levy Override Program ______________________________________________ 76 Funding Overview of Early Childhood Education and Full Day Kindergarten ____________ 77 District Compensation _______________________________________________________ 78 PERA Merger ______________________________________________________________ 81 Consolidated Fund Summary __________________________________________________ 82 Consolidated Summary of Fund Appropriations ___________________________________ 84 Fund Balance Description _____________________________________________________ 85 FY 2013-14 Use of Fund Balance ______________________________________________ 86 Funds Section _______________________________________________________________ 87 General Fund ______________________________________________________________ 88 General Projects Fund ________________________________________________________ 96 Pupil Activity Fund _________________________________________________________ 100 Government Designated Purpose Grants Funds ___________________________________ 105 Special Revenue Fund ______________________________________________________ 110 Denver Public Schools Capital Program_________________________________________ 115 Bond Redemption Fund _____________________________________________________ 124 Capital Projects Building Funds _______________________________________________ 130 Capital Reserve Fund _______________________________________________________ 135 Food Services Fund ________________________________________________________ 140 Warehouse Internal Service Fund ______________________________________________ 145 Risk Management Internal Service Fund ________________________________________ 150 DOTS Service Bureau Internal Service Fund _____________________________________ 155 Private Purpose Trust Fund ___________________________________________________ 158 ProComp Trust Special Revenue Fund __________________________________________ 163 Permanent Fund ___________________________________________________________ 168 Student Activity Fund _______________________________________________________ 173 District Fund and Department Relationship ______________________________________ 174 Schools Section _____________________________________________________________ 175 SBB Methodology _________________________________________________________ 176 Summary of Allocations _____________________________________________________ 177 Types of Schools ___________________________________________________________ 184 School Performance Framework_______________________________________________ 185 School Summary Reports ____________________________________________________ 186 Departments Section _________________________________________________________ 327 Department Summaries ______________________________________________________ 328 Department Summary Reports ________________________________________________ 329 Informational Section ________________________________________________________ 365 Student Enrollment History __________________________________________________ 366 Graduation/Dropout Rate ____________________________________________________ 368 Unified Improvement Plan ___________________________________________________ 369 TCAP Testing Results ______________________________________________________ 371 Colorado ACCESS for ELLs Exam ____________________________________________ 373 Position Summary Schedule __________________________________________________ 374 Appendix Section ____________________________________________________________ 376 Glossary _________________________________________________________________ 377 School Year Calendar _______________________________________________________ 388 School Performance Framework 2012 __________________________________________ 389 City and County of Denver General Information __________________________________ 395 Organizational Charts _______________________________________________________ 401 2010 Denver Plan __________________________________________________________ 428 Additional General Fund Budget Schedules ______________________________________ 444 Additional GDPG Fund Budget Schedules _______________________________________ 454 Additional Special Revenue Fund Budget Schedules _______________________________ 456 Introductory Section AdoptDeendve rB Puublidc Sgcheootls Book FY 2013-14 i 1 2 3