Budget
In 2007, the district employed 227 teachers with the average teacher salary in the district at $44,398 for 180 days worked. As of 2007, Pennsylvania ranked in the top 10 states in average teacher salaries. When adjusted for cost of living Pennsylvania ranked fourth in the nation for teacher compensation. Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, professional development reimbursement, personal days, sick days, and other benefits.
The district administrative costs in 2008 were $707.74 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. In 2007, the school board awarded a four year contract to Gary Hamilton to serve as the district's superintendent. His initial salary was set at $120,000 with incentives. He also received an extensive benefits package. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association keeps statistics on salaries of public school district employees in Pennsylvania. According to the association, the average salary for a superintendent for the 2007-08 school year was $122,165.
In 2008, the district administration reported spending $11,029 per pupil which ranked 394th among Pennsylvania's 501 school districts.
In April 2011, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit of the district. The findings were reported to the administration and the school board by state officials.
Reserves In 2008, the district reported a $2,863,447 in an unreserved-undesignated fund balance. The designated fund balance was repoted as zero.
The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax 0.5%, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. Grants can provide an opportunity to supplement school funding without raising local taxes. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax regardless the of individual's wealth.
Read more about this topic: Ringgold School District
Famous quotes containing the word budget:
“A budget takes the fun out of money.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.”
—Joseph E. Levine (b. 1905)
“The United States is the only great nation whose government is operated without a budget. The fact is to be the more striking when it is considered that budgets and budget procedures are the outgrowth of democratic doctrines and have an important part in developing the modern constitutional rights.... The constitutional purpose of a budget is to make government responsive to public opinion and responsible for its acts.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)