Building a Budget with Allocations

Flexible Allocations

Flexible (F): These allocations are fully flexible and may be budgeted at a principal’s discretion.

At-Risk

For FY26, eligible schools receive At-Risk funding through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) and through the DCPS student-based portion of the school funding model. Schools may qualify for At-Risk funding in four ways. Below is a description of each type of At-Risk funding available to schools, divided into two sections: At-Risk funding provided through the UPSFF and At-Risk funding provided by DCPS through the school funding model using other local dollars.

UPSFF

At-Risk UPSFF

This allocation can be found on the school budget allocation worksheet as “At-Risk UPSFF.” This is a fully flexible allocation that schools may use to budget for most things needed. DCPS allocates 90% of all At-Risk funding received to schools through a program grant in the form of a per-pupil allocation. The Fair Student Funding Act allows DCPS to retain 10% of At-Risk funding centrally for administrative purposes.

How At-Risk UPSFF Funds Are Allocated

The total amount of At-Risk dollars that a school receives will be based on the projected number of students identified as At-Risk. For FY26, this per-pupil dollar amount is $4,069 per student. This per-pupil amount is 27% of the UPSFF foundation level.

At-Risk Concentration UPSFF

This allocation can be found on the school budget allocation worksheet as “At-Risk Concentration UPSFF” and is a fully flexible allocation. These funds are provided to eligible DCPS schools to support schools with higher proportions of students considered to be At-Risk.

How At-Risk Concentration UPSFF Funds Are Allocated

DCPS allocates 100% of the At-Risk Concentration to schools through a program grant in the form of a per-pupil allocation. These funds are based on the projected number of students identified as At-Risk. Schools with more than 40% of students designated At-Risk receive $1,055 per student over the 40% threshold. Schools with more than 70% At-Risk students receive an additional $1,055 for all the students over the 70% threshold. The per-pupil amount for both the 40% and 70% weights is 7% of the UPSFF foundation level.

At-Risk High School Over-Age Supplement

This allocation is provided to schools with grades 9-12 and is included in the “At-Risk UPSFF” on the school budget allocation worksheet. These funds are intended for schools who have students who are behind grade level in high school.

How At-Risk High School Over-Age Supplement Funds Are Allocated

DCPS allocates 90% of the At-Risk High School Over-Age Supplement to schools through a program grant in the form of a per-pupil allocation. For FY26, the per-pupil amount for the Over-Age Supplement is $814, which is 5.4% of the UPSFF foundation level.

UPSFF Budgeting Guidance

At-Risk funds should be directed toward improving outcomes for students identified as At-Risk: students who are homeless, in foster care, qualify for certain federal assistance programs, or are over-age in high school. While At-Risk UPSFF dollars are flexible funds that schools may use for either personnel (including administrative premium and overtime) or non-personnel budget items, schools should not use this funding for core programming at the school. These funds are intended to supplement each school’s budget. Schools should use other flexible funding to budget for core programming first, including, but not limited to, grade-level teachers and content teachers to meet base scheduling requirements. Further, At-Risk UPSFF funding should not be used for custodial services or supplies.

Concentration Weight

DCPS provides a local allocation of At-Risk concentration dollars to schools whose At-Risk concentrations are greater than 40%. This is funding is allocated through student-based funding, which is separate from the funding provided through the UPSFF student weights that is required by law. Please see the “How Schools Are Funded” section of the DCPS budget website for more information.

Non-Personnel Spending (NPS) Allocation

How Funds Are Allocated 

The FY25 per-pupil amount was based on historical spending data, across the different school types. The FY26 per-pupil NPS allocation is a 3.3% increase compared to the FY25 NPS allocation to account for inflation. Projected enrollment was multiplied by the per-pupil amount to calculate the allocation. Below are the FY26 per-pupil amounts by school type: 

  • Elementary Schools & Early Learning Centers: $372/student 
  • K-8 Education Campuses: $379/student  
  • Middle Schools: $392/student  
  • High Schools (including Secondary Education Campuses and Alternative High Schools): $681/student 
  • Special Education Campuses: $2,477/student 

Schools should note that a portion of their NPS allocations are pre-budgeted for the following:

  • Library MOU: In FY26, the library programming allocation to fund the DC Public Library MOU and district-wide electronic library resources is included in the NPS Allocation. Every school’s specific amount ($22.04 per student) has been locked at an NF1 flexibility.
  • Administrative Premium/Overtime: Based on historical spending, schools have funds pre-budgeted as NF2 amounts. For more information on administrative premium and overtime, please see the Additional Compensation section.

All remaining NPS allocated funds are flexible and should be budgeted according to guidance below.

Budgeting Guidance

Principals and finance professionals should look through their historical spending data and identify the appropriate amount of non-personnel funding they need to budget in different categories. Historical data can reveal insightful trends to support spend planning and successful budget execution. Please refer to the DCPS Way to access FY24-25 non-personnel budget/expenditure data, including available balance trackers and spend plan tools.

Typically, non-personnel funding is the last to be budgeted and is often what is sacrificed. While certain Central Services teams can be helpful when schools face challenges, Central Services does not have the ability to supplement budgets during the year if schools do not have sufficient non-personnel funding. Schools should ensure an adequate NPS budget for their needs by creating an informed and data-driven spending plan.

Schools should also be mindful of donations, which are not included as part of their allocations but may roll over to future years if they are unused.

Reprogramming 

In FY26, schools can reprogram a cumulative amount of $100,000 before the additional approvals of DC City Council and the Office of Budget and Performance Management are required after the standard approval needed from Central Services and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. To mitigate the need for reprogramming, schools should analyze their historical non-personnel spending data and projected end-of-year spending to ensure that funds are budgeted in the proper line items.

Commonly Reprogrammed Goods and Services 

The table below displays examples of goods/services that are commonly entered into incorrect budget lines and, thus, require reprogramming. The column on the left shows examples of purchases a school may want to make, while the one on the right shows the correct budget line item that schools need to have funds in. Oftentimes, these are the budget lines that do not have enough money initially budgeted in, requiring principals to reprogram money from other funding lines into the depleted one. 

Commonly Misloaded Good/Service

Correct Object Description

IT accessories (e.g., cables, mice, headphones)

IT Supplies

Repair of equipment (custodial, technology)

Professional Services

Website hosting services

Professional Services

Building artwork, such as murals

Professional Services

Branded school items (e.g., backpacks, water bottles, notebooks)

General Supplies

Customized clothing with insignias/logos (SWAG)

Clothing/Uniforms

Electronic Learning (blended learning & digital curricula, such as iReady)

Electronic Learning

Custodial machinery and equipment (e.g., burnishers, vacuum cleaners, floor strippers, snowplow, leaf blowers, etc.)

Custodial Equipment

Computers, devices, interactive boards

IT Equipment/Hardware

Live it, Learn it (field trip/experiential learning)

Contractual Services

What is the difference between professional services and contracts?

Typically, professional services are one- or two-time occurrences whereas contracts cover multiple occurrences throughout the year (whether professional development (PD), student services, or consultation). Often, if a school has contract funds but no professional service funds, they may use contracts for a one-time PD. Similarly, a school could use PD funds for a repeated PD rather than using contract funds.

Points of Contact 

Principals and finance professionals should work with their specific Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) budget analysts and School Finance Team points of contact to understand appropriate usage of funds and balance availability. If a school is unsure of their point of contact, they should email dcps.schoolfunding@k12.dc.gov.

Opportunity Academy Weight

For FY26, the Opportunity Academies (Ballou STAY, Garnet-Patterson STAY, and Luke Moore HS) will receive fully flexible allocations of $4,069 per student. This funding amount is the same rate as the per-pupil At-Risk UPSFF amount, but the Opportunity Academy Weight is a local allocation that is separate from the funding provided through the UPSFF student weights that is required by law.

Beginning in FY26, Opportunity Academies will also receive At-Risk Concentration funding for their projected alternative students (separate from the Opportunity Academy Weight). They will still not receive At-Risk UPSFF funds, At-Risk Overage Supplement funds, nor student-based At-Risk funds.

Safety Net Supplement

Schools may receive a safety net supplement to ensure that they can afford a baseline of services with their student-based funds. The calculated cost of these baseline services will vary from school to school depending on school type and projected enrollment. If a school’s student-based funds do not generate enough funding to budget for each component of its safety net, it will receive an allocation of safety net supplement dollars. Schools are not required to budget for the specific items listed in the safety net, however, as these dollars are a fully flexible allocation. For more information about the safety net, please visit the DCPS Budget website.

School Office Support

Each school is provided $79,854 (the position cost of an administrative aide) in flexible office support funding that can go towards obtaining front-office staff or non-personnel services.

School Sustainability Fund

Schools receive sustainability funding to maintain an initial allocation amount that aligns with their prior year amended budget to ensure they can afford the appropriate number of classroom teachers in FY26. Sustainability funding is calculated by comparing schools’ FY26 formulaic budgets to their FY25 amended budgets (including any additional funds allocated by DC Council) inflated for increased costs and adjusted based on year-over-year changes to enrollment. If a school’s DCPS model allocation is less than its adjusted FY25 amended budget, it will receive a fully flexible allocation of stabilization dollars.

Specialty Payments

These funds are provided to select schools as fully flexible funds. The exceptions to this are Bard Early College HS and Coolidge HS, for which the specialty payments are locked and support partnerships with Bard College and Trinity Washington University, respectively. Coolidge HS also receives a separate program grant for a Director – Early College Academy.

Schools Receiving Specialty Payments in FY25

Bard Early College HS

Benjamin Banneker HS

Brookland MS

Coolidge HS

Ellington Schools of the Arts

McKinley Technology HS

School Without Walls HS

Student-Based Funding

Schools receive a base weight amount of funding for each student, along with additional funds to support students with greater needs. All student-based funds are fully flexible, but schools that serve special student populations are encouraged to use additional dollars to support services for Multilingual Learners (ML), Special Education (SPED), Pre-K, and At-Risk students.

For more information on student-based funding, please see the DCPS Budget website.

Title I – Instructional

Purpose

Title I funds are used for a variety of services and programs to improve student outcomes. They supplement the amount of funds that would be made available from non-federal sources and are not to supplant funds from the regular budget. The key objective of Title I funds is to close the achievement gap and serve the most disadvantaged students.

How Funds Are Allocated

Title I schools receive Title I – Instructional funds, in addition to their Title I – Parent & Family Engagement and Title II – Professional Development funds. Title I – Instructional funds are allocated based on schools’ eligibility percentages (the Identified Student Percentage multiplied by 1.6, as determined by the United States Department of Agriculture).

Schools with eligibility percentages of 40% and above will operate as Schoolwide programs. For schools with eligibility percentages of 35 to 39.99%, the Monitoring and Program Support Team will work with each school to determine which Title I program model (Targeted Assistance or Schoolwide) they would like to operate under. Each of these schools must use their Comprehensive School Plan (CSP) as a guide to ensure that the federal requirements of these funds are met.  

In previous years, Title I schools had their Title I – Instructional and Title II – Professional Development funds combined into a flexible allocation called “Title I – Schoolwide.” In FY26, these allocations will not be combined. Schools may continue to budget their Title I – Instructional dollars towards classroom educators and supplemental instructional staff, but Title II – Professional Development funds must go towards professional development for all schools, in accordance with the grant.

Budgeting Recommendations/Requirements

Title I – Instructional funds should be used to provide programs and services geared toward improving student achievement, such as: 

  • Hiring instructors who provide intensive academic intervention to students
  • Emphasizing access to a “well-rounded education” that includes not only reading and mathematics but also music, art, world languages, science, social studies, environmental education, computer science, and civics
  • Paying administrative premium to teachers supporting before- or after-school tutoring programs
  • Purchasing educational software and equipment to support and enhance classroom instruction
  • Developing reading and math intervention programs that target academically at-risk students
  • Supporting family engagement activities included in the Comprehensive School Plan that complement schools’ Title I – Parent & Family Engagement allocations

Other allowable uses 

  • Hiring or contracting personnel to provide student instructional services
  • Paying stipends to parents as volunteer partners in the school
  • Purchasing supplies and materials, equipment, software, and reference materials
  • Paying for approved local and out-of-town travel, hotel accommodations, conference, convention, and registration fees that support research-based strategies
  • Paying for services that serve an educational purpose toward improving student achievement

Non-allowable uses 

  • Supporting catering services that are not explicitly and directly tied to a Title I program
  • Funding field trips to amusement or water parks (e.g., Six Flags) and paraphernalia (e.g., t-shirts, iPads, promotional items/swag, etc.)
  • Supplanting funds from the required school budget

Points of Contact 

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