Finance and Facility
7. FINANCE AND FACILITY
7.1. Financing
7.2. Facility
7.3. Liability and Insurance
7.4. Child Accounting
References: SVRCS Financial Management Plan(Attachment E)SVRCS Physical Needs Plan(Attachment F)
7.1. Financing
A five-year financial management plan for the SVRCS has been developed. This plan includes a start-up budget, a first-year budget based on a proposed enrollment of 350 K-12 students and a five-year budget with an incremental growth in enrollment of 25 students per year. The cost estimates of expenses are such that they can be increased/decreased on a 25 student basis should the first year of operations of the SVRCS not have a 350 student enrollment.
The financial management plan for the SVRCS reflects an enrollment-based revenue source of 80% of Keystone Central School District's cost per average daily membership (ADM). The ADM includes $4355 Instructional, $720 Special Education, $2257 Support and $695 Debt Service for a total of $8027. Revenue for the 1997/1998 SVRCS operating budget is estimated at $6420 per enrolled student. The total revenue available for operating the 350 student charter school would be $2,247,000.
Additional revenues will be sought in several ways. The SVRCS will conduct creative and active fundraising efforts in conjunction with the SVCC. Sponsorships by businesses and organizations will be encouraged and promoted. Grants from local, state and federal sources will be pursued by members of the School Community and through use of the myriad resources available at the Pennsylvania State University.
Calculations of annual expenditures are based upon the following assumptions:
· 21 full-time teachers @ $42,000/year
· 3 administrator supplements @ $5000/year
· 6 full-time support staff @ $25,000/year
· 10 PSU interns and coordinator: $100,000
· Benefits cost per full-time staff member: 25% of salary
SVRCS will utilize Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for recording its financial transactions. The school recognizes that its success as an educational institution will depend on sound financial planning and the SVRCS Board of Trustees will be attentive to this operational aspect.
7.2. Facility
Actual utilization of buildings that may be considered for use by the SVRCS will be dependent on several factors, including the following:
· Legislation for charter schools;
· Ability to reach lease agreements, if necessary, with building owners;
· Number of students to be served;
· Grade configurations for facilities;
· Curriculum to be taught; and
· Use of facilities for pre-school, adult education and extracurricular activities.
Immediately upon receipt of its Charter, the SVRCS will develop a proposal for the Keystone Central School District that details conversion of the existing Sugar Valley Elementary School, located in Loganton Borough, to a charter school. The proposal will request the district's assistance in performing the necessary conversions and would include justification based on number of students, educational, financial and social needs of the Sugar Valley area and district.
Because an existing public school will be converted to a charter school, no financing of the purchase of a SVRCS facility will be necessary. The initial SVRCS Board of Trustees will develop a long-range plan to accommodate present and future facility requirements and the financing, if necessary, to realize them. By the beginning of the 1997/1998 school year, $1 million in renovations to the Sugar Valley Elementary School will have been completed by KCSD. The Board of Trustees will seek school staff and community advice to determine future renovation needs and cost estimates.
7.3. Liability and Insurance
The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School founders will provide copies of actual insurance policies when the SVRCS is chartered and its enrollment, staff hiring and facility acquisition have been completed. Because insurance policies are specific to property, numbers of people covered, etc. it is not possible to provide anything more than a rough estimate for insurance expenditures that may be incurred. The SVRCS founders will provide copies of actual insurance policies as an addendum to this application as soon as it is feasible.
The following are some, but not necessarily all, of the categories of insurance that the SVRCS may require:
· Property
Buildings
Personal property
· Liability
Commercial general liability
Bodily injury
Property damage
Premises
Products
Personal and advertising injury liability
Medical payments to others/molestation vicarious liability
Sexual or physical abuse
Board of Trustee liability
· Crime
Employee dishonesty
Forgery and alteration
Theft, disappearance and destruction
· Umbrella
General liability
Workers compensation
Commercial auto, bodily injury and property damage
· Commercial auto (for each vehicle)
Compulsory bodily injury
Personal injury protection
Optional bodily injury
Medical payments
Property damage
Uninsured motorist
Underinsured motorist
Comprehensive
Collision
Non-owned and hired car liability
· Workers compensation
Statutory benefits
Employers' liability
· Miscellaneous
Non-owned liability
Hired car liability
Directors and Officers liability
7.4. Child Accounting
SVRCS will be in full compliance with requirements of 24 PS 13-1332, "Reports of Enrollment". To maintain efficient tracking for SVRCS, the following procedures will be followed to ensure accurate records.
If a parent or guardian has enrolled a student, but the student has failed to attend within three days of the opening of school, said parent/guardian will be contacted to determine cause for the absence. If the student's absence is for medical reasons or other lawful excuse and the student is planning to attend SVRCS, appropriate reports will be generated. However, if the parent/guardian has elected to enroll the student in another school, public or private, SVRCS will initiate appropriate contacts to verify enrollment elsewhere and remove the student/students from SVRCS enrollment data.
Additionally, SVRCS will establish and maintain an efficient and thorough record-keeping system to track all information needed for state and federal reporting requirements with which the school must comply. Data will be accrued beginning with the first student application and continue throughout the ensuing school year for an ongoing collection and reporting effort.
These data fall into four major categories: student; staff; financial; and nutrition (for participation in federal food programs). Financial records shall be kept according to generally accepted accounting principles and will be examined annually by an independent auditor hired by, and reporting to, the board. Individual student records shall be maintained by administrators and shall be retained after the student leaves the school, as required. Student's records are confidential, but shall be made available to his or her parents or guardians upon request. Aggregate statistics of student performance will be reported to the Board of Trustees and included in an annual report. One or more database systems will be set up using the data elements necessary for school use or required by laws and regulations.
It is anticipated that conversion of the existing elementary school to charter status will add approximately 30 students whose parents did not respond to the survey but would opt to keep their children in school in Sugar Valley. Additionally, members of the planning group have been contacted by parents of children who reside within the school district but not in Sugar Valley about the potential for enrollment at the SVRCS.
7.1. Financing
7.2. Facility
7.3. Liability and Insurance
7.4. Child Accounting
References: SVRCS Financial Management Plan(Attachment E)SVRCS Physical Needs Plan(Attachment F)
7.1. Financing
A five-year financial management plan for the SVRCS has been developed. This plan includes a start-up budget, a first-year budget based on a proposed enrollment of 350 K-12 students and a five-year budget with an incremental growth in enrollment of 25 students per year. The cost estimates of expenses are such that they can be increased/decreased on a 25 student basis should the first year of operations of the SVRCS not have a 350 student enrollment.
The financial management plan for the SVRCS reflects an enrollment-based revenue source of 80% of Keystone Central School District's cost per average daily membership (ADM). The ADM includes $4355 Instructional, $720 Special Education, $2257 Support and $695 Debt Service for a total of $8027. Revenue for the 1997/1998 SVRCS operating budget is estimated at $6420 per enrolled student. The total revenue available for operating the 350 student charter school would be $2,247,000.
Additional revenues will be sought in several ways. The SVRCS will conduct creative and active fundraising efforts in conjunction with the SVCC. Sponsorships by businesses and organizations will be encouraged and promoted. Grants from local, state and federal sources will be pursued by members of the School Community and through use of the myriad resources available at the Pennsylvania State University.
Calculations of annual expenditures are based upon the following assumptions:
· 21 full-time teachers @ $42,000/year
· 3 administrator supplements @ $5000/year
· 6 full-time support staff @ $25,000/year
· 10 PSU interns and coordinator: $100,000
· Benefits cost per full-time staff member: 25% of salary
SVRCS will utilize Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for recording its financial transactions. The school recognizes that its success as an educational institution will depend on sound financial planning and the SVRCS Board of Trustees will be attentive to this operational aspect.
7.2. Facility
Actual utilization of buildings that may be considered for use by the SVRCS will be dependent on several factors, including the following:
· Legislation for charter schools;
· Ability to reach lease agreements, if necessary, with building owners;
· Number of students to be served;
· Grade configurations for facilities;
· Curriculum to be taught; and
· Use of facilities for pre-school, adult education and extracurricular activities.
Immediately upon receipt of its Charter, the SVRCS will develop a proposal for the Keystone Central School District that details conversion of the existing Sugar Valley Elementary School, located in Loganton Borough, to a charter school. The proposal will request the district's assistance in performing the necessary conversions and would include justification based on number of students, educational, financial and social needs of the Sugar Valley area and district.
Because an existing public school will be converted to a charter school, no financing of the purchase of a SVRCS facility will be necessary. The initial SVRCS Board of Trustees will develop a long-range plan to accommodate present and future facility requirements and the financing, if necessary, to realize them. By the beginning of the 1997/1998 school year, $1 million in renovations to the Sugar Valley Elementary School will have been completed by KCSD. The Board of Trustees will seek school staff and community advice to determine future renovation needs and cost estimates.
7.3. Liability and Insurance
The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School founders will provide copies of actual insurance policies when the SVRCS is chartered and its enrollment, staff hiring and facility acquisition have been completed. Because insurance policies are specific to property, numbers of people covered, etc. it is not possible to provide anything more than a rough estimate for insurance expenditures that may be incurred. The SVRCS founders will provide copies of actual insurance policies as an addendum to this application as soon as it is feasible.
The following are some, but not necessarily all, of the categories of insurance that the SVRCS may require:
· Property
Buildings
Personal property
· Liability
Commercial general liability
Bodily injury
Property damage
Premises
Products
Personal and advertising injury liability
Medical payments to others/molestation vicarious liability
Sexual or physical abuse
Board of Trustee liability
· Crime
Employee dishonesty
Forgery and alteration
Theft, disappearance and destruction
· Umbrella
General liability
Workers compensation
Commercial auto, bodily injury and property damage
· Commercial auto (for each vehicle)
Compulsory bodily injury
Personal injury protection
Optional bodily injury
Medical payments
Property damage
Uninsured motorist
Underinsured motorist
Comprehensive
Collision
Non-owned and hired car liability
· Workers compensation
Statutory benefits
Employers' liability
· Miscellaneous
Non-owned liability
Hired car liability
Directors and Officers liability
7.4. Child Accounting
SVRCS will be in full compliance with requirements of 24 PS 13-1332, "Reports of Enrollment". To maintain efficient tracking for SVRCS, the following procedures will be followed to ensure accurate records.
If a parent or guardian has enrolled a student, but the student has failed to attend within three days of the opening of school, said parent/guardian will be contacted to determine cause for the absence. If the student's absence is for medical reasons or other lawful excuse and the student is planning to attend SVRCS, appropriate reports will be generated. However, if the parent/guardian has elected to enroll the student in another school, public or private, SVRCS will initiate appropriate contacts to verify enrollment elsewhere and remove the student/students from SVRCS enrollment data.
Additionally, SVRCS will establish and maintain an efficient and thorough record-keeping system to track all information needed for state and federal reporting requirements with which the school must comply. Data will be accrued beginning with the first student application and continue throughout the ensuing school year for an ongoing collection and reporting effort.
These data fall into four major categories: student; staff; financial; and nutrition (for participation in federal food programs). Financial records shall be kept according to generally accepted accounting principles and will be examined annually by an independent auditor hired by, and reporting to, the board. Individual student records shall be maintained by administrators and shall be retained after the student leaves the school, as required. Student's records are confidential, but shall be made available to his or her parents or guardians upon request. Aggregate statistics of student performance will be reported to the Board of Trustees and included in an annual report. One or more database systems will be set up using the data elements necessary for school use or required by laws and regulations.
It is anticipated that conversion of the existing elementary school to charter status will add approximately 30 students whose parents did not respond to the survey but would opt to keep their children in school in Sugar Valley. Additionally, members of the planning group have been contacted by parents of children who reside within the school district but not in Sugar Valley about the potential for enrollment at the SVRCS.