The district solicited suggestions regarding how it could save money. I sent them a spreadsheet pointing out $6.7 million in annual savings simply by adjusting spending per student to match Elm Grove, an Exemplary School. At Elm Grove, the lowest spending for any school in the county occurs at $4,823. By comparison, the district is spending $6,618/student at Blanco Vista, home of the full immersion Spanish program. Remember when they cut Spanish at Elm Grove for “budgetary reasons”?
The district spends a whopping $7,713/student at Camino Real too. And this year, we opened two new 800 student capacity $20 million plus elementary schools while elementary enrollment grew only 267 students. That’s another $2 million in unneeded additional annual operating costs compared to absorbing this growth with the existing elementary schools. For example, Buda Elementary has 585 students today. It had 1,051 students in 1986!
Let’s look at the Academy’s statistics over the last 10 years. The district could save $1 million annually by closing the Academy. In year one, benefitting from the academics of Hays High, Academy students achieved 78% passing on all tests in 10th grade. The district spent $4,446/student with 76 students enrolled and the student/teacher ratio was 19.1. By year six, achievement for 10th grade, all tests was 29% but up from 16% in year five. In year nine spending escalated to $11,292 per student, student/teacher ratios declined to 12.3 and enrollment grew to 95 students. In the 10th grade, 44% passed all tests. In 2009-2010, the Academy had a budget of $972,449 for 90 students, or $10,827/student. In 10th grade, the Academy boasted a 28% passing rate on all tests in the 10th grade.
Over 10 years, achievement has dropped 50%, enrollment has remained stagnant while the budget/student increased 188%, excluding the $2.3 million spent to renovate a former 675 student middle school. In seven of ten years, passing rates were 29% or less.These metrics clearly indicate it is time to close the Academy. Why fail with 90 students while not having funds for thousands more because of it?
Bryce Bales
Manchaca
