Building A Budget With Allocations - All Flexibility Levels

Level 3 Flexibility Allocations

The following allocations are fully flexible:

Specialty Payments

These funds are provided to select schools as fully flexible funds (Note: except for Coolidge for which the specialty payment supports the Trinity Washington University-Coolidge partnership.)

 

School Office Support

Each school is provided $70,653 in flexible office support funding that can go towards obtaining front-office staff or non-personnel services. 

 

Student Based Funding

  • Base Weight (K-12)
  • English Learner (EL) Weight (PK-12)
  • Special Education (SPED) Weight (PK-12)
  • K-8 Education Campus (EC) Weight (K-8)
  • Early Childhood Education (ECE) Weight (PK3-PK4)
  • 40% At-Risk Concentration Weight (PK-12)
  • 70% At-Risk Concentration Weight (6-12)
  • Early Learning Center (ELC) Weight (Military Road & Stevens)
  • Special Education Campus Weight (River Terrace)

 

NPS Total Allocation – Including Admin Premium and Overtime

How Funds are Allocated

The FY23 per pupil amount was based on historical spending data, across the different school types. The FY24 per pupil NPS allocation is a 7.5% increase compared to the FY23 NPS allocation to account for inflation. Projected enrollment was multiplied by the per pupil amount to calculate the allocation. Below are the FY24 per pupil amounts by school type:  

  • Elementary & Early Learning Centers: $349/student
  • K-8 Education Campus: $354/student
  • Middle School: $367/student
  • High School (including Secondary Education Campus and Alternative High Schools: $637/student
  • Special Education Campus: $2,313

Budgeting Guidance

Library MOU Funding: In FY24, the library programming allocation to fund the DC Public Library MOU and district wide electronic library services, is included in the NPS Total Allocation. Every school’s specific amount has been locked as a Level 1 flexibility. 

Overtime and Administrative Premium: Based on historical spending of overtime and administrative premium, schools have a required amount of funds pre-budgeted for These are pre-budgeted as level 2 flexibility line amounts and principals may request to adjust them through the petition process.

Purpose

Administrative Premium

Administrative Premium Pay is negotiated compensation for Washington Teachers Union (WTU) members only. “Teacher” will be defined as any ET-15 (including ET-15/12, ET-15/11, and ET-15/10) or EG-9 member of the WTU. No other employee or non-employee of DCPS is eligible for admin premium. The rate for admin premium is $60/hour.

Note for FY24 

As a reminder, schools should continue to budget at the $40/hour rate and are not responsible for budgeting at the increased rate. The administrative premium targets that were pre-budgeted used the $40/hour rate as well. 

Overtime

For Non-WTU or CSO members, time worked outside of an employee’s tour of duty is compensated using overtime pay. The overtime rate is based on the employee’s hourly rate at time and half. 70-hour aides (less than 40 per week) receive regular pay for all hours worked under 40 hours/week. Overtime rates apply when the employee exceeds 80 hours in the pay period.

Administrative Premium Program Guidance

The information that follows provides guidance regarding allowable categories of Administrative Premium. Activities that do not fall within this guidance are not authorized for administrative premium pay.

Afterschool Programs

In accordance with the WTU collective bargaining agreement, the rate of pay for teachers working in the afterschool program is equivalent to the rate established for Administrative Premium Pay.

Class Coverage/Loss of Planning or Lunch Period

In cases when substitute services cannot be obtained for an absent teacher, other teachers may be required to provide class coverage, thereby resulting in a loss of a planning period or lunch for the covering teacher. In addition, teachers may lose a planning period or lunch because another teacher who is typically assigned to cover their class is unavailable. In these cases, the teacher losing the planning period or lunch shall be compensated for the additional workload using Administrative Premium Pay. Compensation shall be in accordance with Article 23.17 of the WTU collective bargaining agreement. Finally, where an elementary school teacher receives students of an absent teacher, which causes the class size to exceed the contractual limit, such teacher shall receive Administrative Premium Pay.

Exceeding IEP Case Manager Limit

Article 24.5.5 of the WTU collective bargaining agreement provides a caseload limit for special education teachers of 15 students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for the year. This refers only to the students with IEPs to whom the special education teacher is assigned as case manager. In cases where a special education teacher agrees to be case manager for more than 15 students with IEPs annually, such teacher will be paid the Administrative Premium rate in the amount of three hours per year for each additional student with an IEP over 15. For example, if a special education teacher is case manager for 17 students with IEPs during the year, he or she will receive $360 in Administrative Premium Pay for the year ($60/hour x 3 hours/case x 2 cases).

Other Eligible Activities Approved by the Supervisor or Appropriate Central Office Team

This section details the remaining activities that are eligible for Administrative Premium Pay.

  • Additional School Time Programs: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers working in the Saturday Schools, or centrally run Evening Credit Recovery Programs.
  • Before and After School Activities: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers who are authorized by their supervisors to participate in activities before or after the school day or school year begins.
  • Compensatory Education: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers for court-ordered compensatory education activities that take place before or after the normal tour of duty.
  • Enrichment/Tutoring: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers participating in supplementary educational services, such as a school-sponsored tutoring program that occurs outside of the school day (i.e., either before school, after school, or on weekends).
  • Professional Development: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers attending training tied to classroom learning and programs outside of the tour of duty. This includes New Educator Orientation, system-wide offerings held after a duty day in which Professional Learning Units are not offered, and Collaborative Planning.
  • Scheduling: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers assisting with start-of-school scheduling activities outside of their tour of duty.
  • Summer School: Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for teachers working at the Summer School program, in accordance with the WTU collective bargaining agreement. These teachers may be coded into an additional position to perform their services in the Summer School program if they are at a different school than their regular year school.
  • Teaching and Learning Curriculum Developers: The Office of Teaching and Learning offers Administrative Premium Pay for teachers partnering with content experts to develop and review curriculum for fellow educators. Qualifying curriculum development initiatives may include, but are not limited to, Cornerstones, Common Core Math Corps, and STEM Master Teacher Corps.
  • Teacher and Principal Selection: The Office of School Improvement and Supports frequently engages teachers beyond their normal tour of duty to assist with new teacher and Principal selection activities. Administrative Premium Pay is allowable for this activity.

Point of Contact

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

Helpful Resources

Additional Compensation Procedures Document

 

At-Risk

For FY24, eligible schools can 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 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 Level 3 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 be supplemental to 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 custodial supplies.

At-Risk funding provided through the 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 (see below for budgeting recommendations). 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 the 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 FY24, this per-pupil dollar amount is $2,818 per student. This per pupil amount is 24% of the UPSFF foundation level.

Budgeting Recommendation: Please see the “UPSFF At-Risk Budgeting Guidance” section above. 

(NEW) 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 $652 per student over the 40% threshold. Schools with more than 70% at-risk students schools receive an additional $652 for all the students over the 70% threshold. The per pupil amount for both the 40% and 70% weights is 5% of the UPSFF foundation level.

Budgeting Recommendations: Same as above for At-Risk UPSFF funds.

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. 

Budget Recommendations: Please see the “UPSFF At-Risk Budgeting Guidance” section above.

DCPS At-Risk Concentration Weight Funding

DCPS provides additional at-risk funding via at-risk concentration weights that are funded with local dollars outside of the UPSFF at-risk grant. These are Level 3 flexible funds and may be used completely at principals’ discretion to support equitable outcomes for students with higher needs. PK-12 Schools with over 40% of students designated at-risk receive an additional $1,295 per student on top of the base weight for each student over the 40% threshold. Schools with grades 6-12 that have over 70% of its students designated as at-risk can receive an additional $1,295 per student on top of the base weight for each student over the 70% threshold. More information on how these funds are allocated can be found in the “How Schools Are Funded” section of the DCPS budget website (www.dcpsbudget.com).

 

Title I Schoolwide

Title Funding For Title I Schools (Title I Schoolwide is a Level 3 Allocation while Title I Parental Involvement is a Level 1 Allocation)

How Title Funds are Allocated at Title I Schools: 

Title I schools receive an allocation for Title I instructional funds (Schoolwide – Level 3 flexibility), Title I parental & family engagement funds (Level 1 flexibility), and Title II professional development funds (Schoolwide – Level 3 flexibility).  

  • Title I schools receive an allocation called “Title I Schoolwide Funds,” which is their Title I Instructional and Title II Professional Development funds combined.
    • Title I Schoolwide funds are allocated based on the Eligibility Percentage (the Identified Student Percentage multiplied by 1.6 as determined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)) and the actual Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) data from collected applications.
    • Title II professional development funds are allocated to Title I schools on a per-pupil basis to be used for Professional Development. As individual Title II school allocations are small and to increase flexibility for schools in using Title I and II funds, DCPS transfers the school’s Title II allocation into Title I schoolwide funds, which also includes the Title I Instructional allocation.
  • Title I Parental & Family Engagement are allocated to schools on a per pupil basis and the total amount makes up 1% of the District’s total Title I allocation. This is a Level 1 allocation line on the school’s budget (Level 1 flexibility).The funds are supplemental to the school’s local funding and must be used to support family engagement initiatives. 

Purpose 

Title I, Part A 

Title I funds are used for a variety of services and programs to improve student outcomes. Title I funds are used to supplement the amount of funds that would be made available from non-federal sources and 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. The amount of Title I funds a school may receive is determined by its poverty rate (the number of students within a school that qualify for free or reduced-priced meals). 

Schools with poverty rates of 40 percent and above to operate Title I School-Wide Title Programs. 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.  

Title I, Part A Programmatic Guidelines 

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 includes music, the arts, foreign languages, science, social studies, environmental education, computer science and civics.
  • Administrative Premium to pay teachers for before- or after-school tutorial programs.
  • Purchase of educational software and equipment to support and enhance classroom instruction.
  • Development of reading and math intervention programs that target the most academically at-risk students; and
  • Support for parental involvement activities included in the Comprehensive School Plan and/or articulated in the School Parental Involvement Policy’s Parent Compact (also known as Parent Partner activities) that complement their Title I Parent and Family Engagement allocation.

Other allowable uses 

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

Non-allowable uses 

  • Support catering services that are not explicitly and directly tied to its Title I program related to students and parents.
  • Fund field trips to amusement or water parks (i.e., Six Flags) and paraphernalia (i.e., T-shirts, iPads, promotional items/swag); or
  • Supplant (replace) funds from the required school budget.

Points of Contact 

 

Stability Funds

  • Stabilization
  • Safety Net Supplement
  • FY24 One Time Mayor’s Recovery Funds

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