Per pupil funding. It’s how the state determines the amount of state dollars going to the public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools of Arkansas.
Because of the Lakeview decision, there is not a finite annual pool money that is divided among public schools. But rather, an “adequate” per pupil amount – State Foundation Funding – is determined each year by the Legislature then distributed to districts and charters based on enrollment.
Each district is required to send to the state revenue from its first 25 mills. This Uniform Rate of Taxation (URT) is then distributed equally, on a per pupil basis, throughout the state. Districts send the same amount to the state no matter the number of charters in their respective footprints.
Local property tax revenue above the 25 mills remains solely with the respective public school districts, regardless of enrollment. Charters receive none of this money.
But what about per pupil spending? Those macro numbers are annually reported to the state by the school districts and charters. While those numbers provide a glimpse into what a district/charter cumulatively spends on students, in districts with more than one elementary, middle/junior high and/or high school, a per pupil/per building spend would provide a much more accurate picture of a district’s stewardship of public resources.
To inform its decisions regarding closing and/or building/refurbishing schools, the Little Rock School District examined its per pupil/per building spend.
| School | Enrollment | Utilization of Capacity | Per Pupil Spend |
| Elementary | |||
| Bale | 385 | 81% | $8,101 |
| Baseline | 296 | 93% | $14,545 |
| Booker | 462 | 73% | $8,607 |
| Brady | 426 | 89% | $7,419 |
| Carver | 293 | 46% | $9,816 |
| Chicot | 755 | 86% | $6,980 |
| Dodd | 324 | 110% | $7,814 |
| Forest Park | 465 | 114% | $7,044 |
| Franklin | 269 | 49% | $10,006 |
| Fulbright | 632 | 133% | $7,208 |
| Gibbs | 306 | 83% | $9,351 |
| Jefferson | 401 | 89% | $8,967 |
| King | 430 | 63% | $9,065 |
| Mabelvale Elem. | 490 | 90% | $7,113 |
| McDermott | 360 | 94% | $8,832 |
| Meadowcliff | 355 | 92% | $7,637 |
| Otter Creek | 489 | 108% | $6,819 |
| Pulaski Heights Elem. | 304 | 94% | $8,097 |
| Roberts | 885 | 83% | $6,899 |
| Rockefeller | 442 | 81% | $9,501 |
| Romine | 260 | 48% | $9,940 |
| Stephens | 375 | 52% | $9,164 |
| Terry | 440 | 102% | $8,173 |
| Wakefield | 549 | 105% | $6,456 |
| Washington | 453 | 48% | $9,982 |
| Watson | 504 | 101% | $7,804 |
| Western Hills | 236 | 65% | $9,100 |
| Williams | 500 | 85% | $7,381 |
| Wilson | 316 | 87% | $8,822 |
| Woodruff* | 150 | 93% | NA |
| Middle | |||
| Cloverdale | 576 | 66% | $11,235 |
| Dunbar | 649 | 79% | $9,586 |
| Henderson | 693 | 77% | $9,425 |
| Mabelvale Middle | 601 | 81% | $10,098 |
| Mann | 818 | 83% | $8,577 |
| Pinnacle View** | 222 | 26% | NA |
| Specialty | |||
| Forest Heights STEM | 687 | 82% | $8,628 |
| Hamilton ALE | 81 | 11% | $34,278 |
| High School | |||
| Central | 2,481 | 132% | $6,850 |
| Fair | 901 | 86% | $8,864 |
| Hall | 1,135 | 71% | $10,371 |
| McClellan | 806 | 60% | $10,352 |
| Parkview | 1,137 | 100% | $8,382 |
*Pre-Kindergarten (Not Required)
**Grade 6 Only (Grade 7 – 2017, Grade 8 – 2018)
Spending per student in the district varies wildly, from a low of $6,456 per student at Wakefield Elementary to a high of $34,278 at Hamilton.
The newest fully utilized school in the district – Roberts – has the second lowest per pupil spend and the largest enrollment of any elementary school.
It’s often said that State Foundation Funding is not a spending matrix, but a funding matrix. The increased transparency of building level financial data would serve the taxpayers of Arkansas well.
For a complete breakdown of data regarding each Little Rock School District building, see the attached PDF (Facilities Planning Document – January 2017).