Understanding the DCPS Budget Worksheet Data Alongside the Mayor’s Budget Book

Background

There are some differences between the DCPS school budget worksheets and the DCPS school profiles in the Mayor’s Budget Book for GA0, as found here and on cfo.dc.gov.

The DCPS submitted budget worksheets represent the full submitted budget for schools across all fund sources and program codes in both the DCPS (GA0) and OSSE (GD0) budgets. However, in the DCPS section of the Mayor’s Budget Book, only funds on the DCPS (GA0) budget are shown; any school-level GD0 funds are shown in the OSSE section of the Budget Book. This means the DCPS budget worksheets will reflect more total funding on school budgets than what appears in the DCPS section of the Mayor’s Budget Book.

Example shown below: This school’s total school managed local funds (GA0) on the FY27 Submitted Budget Worksheet aligns with the Proposed FY 2027 amount listed in the school’s profile in the Mayor’s Budget Book.

DCPS Submitted Budget Worksheet:

FY27 Submitted Budget Worksheet: Example ES

Linking Submitted Budget Worksheets to the Mayor’s Budget Book: Program (Parent Level 1)

Program (parent level 1) is a header in the DIFS system that organizes various program codes into categories. Each program (parent level 1) has a corresponding program code and description of what it represents. On the submitted budget worksheets, each budget line item includes one or more program (parent level 1) codes, which can be used to match FTE counts in the Mayor’s Budget Book.

Key Differences Between the Mayor’s Budget Book and DCPS Submitted Budget Worksheets:

At-Risk Fund Source

In the Mayor’s Budget Book, at-risk and non-at-risk program (parent level 1) codes are shown in different sections. A position funded by both types will be split across those two sections. In the DCPS worksheet, that same position is displayed only once, with the different fund sources, including at-risk, shown in columns. 

Example: In the Mayor’s Budget Book (Graphic A), the Instructional Coach funded partially with at-risk dollars and partially with local dollars shows up in two places, with one line of 0.4 FTE  and another line with 0.6 FTE. The DCPS worksheet (Graphic B) shows the Instructional Coach, by type, in one row as 1.0 FTE, with both program (parent level 1) codes listed. Although they look different, both sources contain the same total number of FTEs for the Instructional Coach.

Interagency (Non-Local) Funding:

Non-local funding such as Title I, Title II, and Title IV-B is ultimately loaded onto OSSE’s budget (agency code GD0) and not DCPS’s (agency code GA0), and therefore referred to as “interagency” funding. These funds are included on the DCPS budget worksheets but not included in the DCPS portion of the Mayor’s Budget Book.

Example: The DCPS worksheet (Graphic C) below shows some FTEs that will not be included in the same line item as other teacher FTEs in the DCPS school profiles in the Mayor’s Budget Book, as some of them are funded through interagency (GD0) funding.

FTE Alignment Between the DCPS Budget Worksheets and the Mayor’s Budget Book

Positions on the DCPS school budget worksheets are separated and itemized, but in the DCPS portion of the Mayor’s Budget Book some positions are combined into a single program (parent level 1) code.

Local Program (Parent Level 1) Code Alignment

In the Mayor’s Budget Book, all RW-3 and RW-5 custodial positions are combined into a single program (parent level 1) code (Graphic D), which shows 8 FTEs listed in the RW-3 program code. In the DCPS worksheet (Graphic E) these positions are itemized to show one RW-5 and two RW-3s budgeted with the same program (parent level 1) code. The total cost of $163K in the Mayor’s Budget Book aligns to the total cost of the RW-3s and RW-5s on the DCPS worksheet.

EL UPSFF and At-Risk Overage Fund Sources

FTEs funded by Elementary and Secondary EL UPSFF and At-Risk Overage are combined into a single budget line or program (parent level 1) code in the Mayor’s Budget Book but are itemized in the DCPS worksheets.

Example:

On the DCPS worksheet (Graphic F), the Teacher – World Language is split-funded across the Local and EL UPSFF fund sources as indicated by the two program codes. On this worksheet, the Teacher – World Language is listed in the same section as other related arts positions that are funded locally. In the Mayor’s Budget Book (Graphic G), however, part of this FTE is separated from locally-funded related arts positions and instead combined with all other positions funded by EL UPSFF (“ESL Elementary”).

Links

To access the Mayor’s Budget Book, click here.

To access a list of program (parent level 1) codes and their descriptions, click here.