Financial+Benefits

All school districts in the commonwealth are going through some very difficult financial times. It is our intent to provide this information to help inform community members of the proactive effort associated with the construction of the new early learning center in regard to immediate and long-term financial savings.
 * FINANCIAL BENEFITS**__**﻿**__

The financial benefits of consolidating four (4) elementary school buildings into one newly-renovated building with a new 60,000 sq. ft. addition are critical to our financial planning. Simply put, the district can no longer afford to operate four (4) elementary buildings. Duplication of staffing services and operating costs are the key contributing financial factors in the decision for this project. It is important to know, however, that the goal of the district administration is to reduce staffing through attrition whenever possible.

** Declining Financial Resources and Student Enrollment **
 * The latest PDE enrollment projections show continued decline in student enrollment for the NCASD.


 * The 2010 PDE enrollment projections indicate an additional decline in primary grades of 70 students with a total of 130 students in grade K-12. These reductions are from those projections used in the study done as a prerequisite for this project.


 * The Governor’s education budget proposal reduces available financial resources. Per pupil subsidy reductions coupled with decline enrollment cause a downward trend in financial resources for the District.


 * Declining financial resources and student enrollment demand consolidation now more than ever.

** Staffing in a Consolidated Environment **
 * The basic details of staffing four (4) elementary schools, as we currently do, compared to the necessary cost of operating under the proposed structure are illustrated in Table 1.


 * As you can see, when we reduce our operations to one (1) building versus four (4); the annual savings in staffing alone totals nearly $800,000. This is evident through the basic example of currently needing four (4) secretaries, eight (8) custodians, operating four (4) cafeterias, and the list continues.


 * With one facility, we reduce the need for the duplication of these services. The proposal would include the reduction of 22 and one half positions. The savings this will generate will be realized not just next year but year-after-year.

** Operational Savings **
 * Basic operating costs are also an obvious savings proposed in the consolidation plan. This is apparent in Table 2.


 * As you can see from the table, projected overall savings would be in the range of $400,000 per year. Again, this occurs only because of the consolidation of four (4) buildings into one (1).


 * The largest savings of approximately $150,000 per year will be derived from our utility expenses.


 * The district will see a reduction in square footage of the existing four (4) buildings from 156,000 sq. ft. to approximately 96,000 sq. ft.


 * The staffing and operating costs of nearly $1.2 million annually never goes away unless the services being provided are in a consolidated environment.


 * Further Cost Savings **
 * The district will also realize savings in technology as well as school supplies through a consolidation.


 * The reduction in technology spending for file servers, computer labs, software, and projectors for one (1) building versus four (4) will only contribute to our annual savings.