Superintendent Compensation

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Last in per pupil spending

Although I appreciate the need to be conservative in spending, I am disturbed by the fact that Utah is dead last in per pupil spending in the nation (and this using spending adjusted for regional cost differences).  In the past I have heard that Utah spends more as a percentage of our total taxable resources, but this is also not true.  We are in the middle of the pack with many states spending a much higher percentage of their taxable resources on education.

I am also disturbed to find that our per pupil spending has actually decreased when adjusted for inflation when compared to 2008.

I think that an investment in our children's education will pay back more than any other investment we make for economic growth.

Pleasant Grove High School Honors

I was excited to see that Pleasant Grove High School had the highest pass rate on the CRT tests of any large high school in Utah.  They scored better than Lone Peak, Timpview and many other schools.  I was also excited to see how many Alpine District schools are clustered in the top of the list.

The article reported in the Deseret News gives scores and demographics for each high school.

Map

With the redistricting, it may not be easy to determine which areas are covered in my district.  This map shows the district with larger print for major roads.

Space Center

I just visited the space center at Central Elementary last week.  It has been closed recently to correct some electrical problems.  It was obvious to me that students would have a lot of fun crawling through the caverns and hopefully learning something about leadership and working on a team.

I feel like the space center is an important part of Alpine District programs and I hope it reopens as soon as possible.

Alpine District Debt

The Utah Taxpayers Association compares the finances of districts across the state every year.  Alpine District is growing, and there is a need to build new schools for the 3000 new students that attended school in 2012-2013. If you look at the amount of interest paid per student, Alpine is at or below the level of most large districts in the state.

Utah School District Comparison 2010 - 2011

School Districts	Enrollment	Instruction Expense per student	As percentage of general fund	Interest on Debt per student
Salt Lake	23,960	5,124	69%	1,093
Wasatch	5,089	5,241	72%	578
Tooele	13,439	4,230	70%	429
Washington	25,671	4,341	68%	381
Ogden	12,568	3,865	53%	317
Iron	8,483	4,334	71%	293
Nebo	29,136	3,864	65%	269
Davis	66,019	4,063	70%	267
Alpine	66,044	3,878	72%	258
Uintah	6,683	4,080	65%	249
Cache	15,409	4,410	70%	237
Canyons	33,469	3,914	64%	189
Box Elder	11,187	4,083	69%	184
Provo	13,376	5,123	74%	167

Administrative Overhead

The Utah Taxpayers association reported that Alpine School District has the lowest administrative overhead of any district in the state.  Here are a few of the comparable districts.

                                                         2010                       2011
Jordan - students                             49729                    50581
              gen admin expense      $1,909,051            $1,744,436
              admin per student               $38.39                   $34.49

Davis - students                               66019                   67736
            gen admin expense       $2,518,401             $2,553,577
            admin per student                 $38.15                   $37.70

Granite - students                            68573                   67736  
            gen admin expense       $2,909,550            $2,807,675
            admin per student                $42.43                   $41.45

Canyons - students                         33469                   33490
             gen admin expense      $2,334,128               couldn't find CAFR
             admin per student              $69.74

Alpine - students                            66044                     68233
             gen admin expense      $1,303,149              $1,234,963
             admin per student              $19.73                     $18.10