Budget information provided under the Freedom of Information Act showed four new programs, International Baccalaureate, CSM Tech, All Day Kindergarten, and Fast ForWord, cost a total of $1.68 million.
State cuts of $165 per pupil total $1.36 million, for Clarkston’s 8,228 students. The district is cutting $10 million.
International Baccalaureate
$598,101
IB’s Expenditure Summary Report dated March 18, 2010, includes an adjusted budget of $598,101.78, which is $93,578 more than indicated in its Dec. 4, 2009 report.
The budget includes $233,419 in salaries and $52,735 in benefits. As per budget cuts, ‘project coordinator? funding is eliminated, cutting $19,500. However, $90,000 is added for ‘purchased services.?
This $90,000 is to send Clarkston High School students to the IB program in Lakeland High School, Huron Valley Schools. The amount is spread over two years, $45,000 each, said Communications Director Anita Banach in an email.
‘This amount will go down in the next two years, as we now offer the program and no longer have the need to send students to Huron Valley,? Banach said.
IB has about 27 students and 13 teachers. Class size range from 2-20 students, with an average of 11.5 students.
CSMTech
$415,160
The half-day Clarkston Science Math Technology program has 172 students and a $415,160 budget, $263,406.37 spent so far.
Budget items include: Salary, $272,600 budgeted, $166,678.92 spent; Benefits, $127,560 budgeted, $89,650.97 spent; Field trips, $1,200 budgeted, but $3,015.20 saved; Conference and registration, $1,200 budgeted, $774.39 spent; Advertisement, $2,000 budgeted, $1,137.93 spent; Teaching supplies, $9,000 budgeted, $7,495.36 spent; and New equipment, $1,600 budgeted, $684 spent.
CSMTech has open enrollment, and includes 18 students from Brandon. It is a half-day program, so state funding for these out-of-district students is about $74,000.
Average class size is about 20 students, with four teachers.
All day kindergarten
$94,455
In its first year, all day kindergarten budget was $94,455.38 total, which includes $82,309.34 in supplies and $6,073.02 for a one-day training workshop.
Fast ForWord
$568,540
Total software perpetual license, $364,540, which was paid from three funds, district General Fund, $276,681; federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, $60,000; and state Durant Fund, $27,859.
During implementation year 2009-2010, $102,000 was spent on staffing.
Next year, cost obligation is a maintenance fee of $4,500 per site, for a total of $49,500. This includes ongoing assessment studies. Anticipated staffing costs for next year include $10,500 for aides, paid from the general fund, as the program is embedded into the regular reading curriculum.
Follow-up questions were emailed to Superintendent Dr. Al Roberts, requesting more information on Fast ForWord’s coordinator and teaching staff. No response was made by email nor phone calls returned.
‘I believe you wrote to Dr. Roberts and stated you wanted a more formal relationship through the use of FOIA,? Banach said.
The Clarkston News submitted a FOIA request for the information, March 22.
The original FOIA request for budget information was made, March 12. The district provided the information, March 19.