Ohio Education Matters honors West Holmes School District as part of Ohio Smart Schools initiative
The West Holmes Local School District ranks among the most efficient school districts in the state in providing non-instructional services, outpacing other similar districts in central administration costs, Ohio Education Matters announced recently.
“The West Holmes Local School District has shown it can deliver quality services at a lower cost than most other districts in the state,” said Andrew Benson, executive director of Ohio Education Matters. “The taxpayers and residents of this community should be proud that its school district takes seriously the best use of resources to benefit children.”
The rating stems from a report issued by Ohio Education Matters this year as part of its nine-month study of K-12 education called Ohio Smart Schools. That report, titled Benchmarking Ohio’s School Districts: Identifying districts that get more for their money in non-instructional spending, identified 135 school districts across Ohio that seem to get more for their money in central-office administration, school-level administration, food service, student transportation, and building maintenance and operations than other similar districts.
In its report, Ohio Education Matters noted the following:
In providing central administration, West Holmes Local was among the most efficient rural districts with low median income levels, spending $430.82 per student. That compared to similar school districts that spent as much as $1,986.02 per student.
“School districts which are not as efficient as this best-in-class district should look to it to learn how it is doing more with less,” said Benson. “By spending less in these non-instructional areas and yet still meeting minimal quality standards, the West Holmes Local School District ensures that more dollars are getting into its classrooms to help support students.
“We think it is reasonable to assume that if this best-in-class district can achieve these kinds of efficiencies, so can other districts that are similar,” said Benson. Researchers from Ohio Education Matters are spending time with the best-in-class Ohio school districts to learn from them how they achieved their efficiencies and what others may do to emulate those best practices.
“The state should be highlighting these efficient districts and rewarding them by protecting them from deeper cuts in state aid than less efficient districts,” Benson said. “That will encourage others to make changes that will make them more efficient in delivering non-instructional services, which frees up more dollars for the classroom.”
Across the state, Ohio school districts could potentially save up to $1.4 billion over time if they were able to emulate the best practices of the most efficient districts in the state, though savings at that level would not happen overnight.
The benchmarking study grouped Ohio school districts with similar districts and identified those that were spending less but also meeting minimal quality indicators in each service area. The five percent lowest spending districts in each category meeting quality levels were designated the best-in-class. A comparison was then made to those districts in each group that spent more than the best-in-class, and the study found that all Ohio school districts could potentially save the following over time:
- $125.6 million in student transportation
- $138 million in food service
- $240 million school-building level administration
- $248 million in central-office administration
- $617.9 million in building maintenance and operations
Across those non-instructional spending areas, school districts could save up to $1.370 billion if they were able to emulate the best practices of their most efficient peers. That would be a total savings of 20 percent across all non-instructional spending in Ohio school districts.
The reports are available at http://www.ohioeducationmatters.org and http://www.ohiosmartschools.org.
“The West Holmes Local School District has shown it can deliver quality services at a lower cost than most other districts in the state,” said Andrew Benson, executive director of Ohio Education Matters. “The taxpayers and residents of this community should be proud that its school district takes seriously the best use of resources to benefit children.”
The rating stems from a report issued by Ohio Education Matters this year as part of its nine-month study of K-12 education called Ohio Smart Schools. That report, titled Benchmarking Ohio’s School Districts: Identifying districts that get more for their money in non-instructional spending, identified 135 school districts across Ohio that seem to get more for their money in central-office administration, school-level administration, food service, student transportation, and building maintenance and operations than other similar districts.
In its report, Ohio Education Matters noted the following:
In providing central administration, West Holmes Local was among the most efficient rural districts with low median income levels, spending $430.82 per student. That compared to similar school districts that spent as much as $1,986.02 per student.
“School districts which are not as efficient as this best-in-class district should look to it to learn how it is doing more with less,” said Benson. “By spending less in these non-instructional areas and yet still meeting minimal quality standards, the West Holmes Local School District ensures that more dollars are getting into its classrooms to help support students.
“We think it is reasonable to assume that if this best-in-class district can achieve these kinds of efficiencies, so can other districts that are similar,” said Benson. Researchers from Ohio Education Matters are spending time with the best-in-class Ohio school districts to learn from them how they achieved their efficiencies and what others may do to emulate those best practices.
“The state should be highlighting these efficient districts and rewarding them by protecting them from deeper cuts in state aid than less efficient districts,” Benson said. “That will encourage others to make changes that will make them more efficient in delivering non-instructional services, which frees up more dollars for the classroom.”
Across the state, Ohio school districts could potentially save up to $1.4 billion over time if they were able to emulate the best practices of the most efficient districts in the state, though savings at that level would not happen overnight.
The benchmarking study grouped Ohio school districts with similar districts and identified those that were spending less but also meeting minimal quality indicators in each service area. The five percent lowest spending districts in each category meeting quality levels were designated the best-in-class. A comparison was then made to those districts in each group that spent more than the best-in-class, and the study found that all Ohio school districts could potentially save the following over time:
- $125.6 million in student transportation
- $138 million in food service
- $240 million school-building level administration
- $248 million in central-office administration
- $617.9 million in building maintenance and operations
Across those non-instructional spending areas, school districts could save up to $1.370 billion if they were able to emulate the best practices of their most efficient peers. That would be a total savings of 20 percent across all non-instructional spending in Ohio school districts.
The reports are available at http://www.ohioeducationmatters.org and http://www.ohiosmartschools.org.
Published: June 12, 2011
