Analyzing OISD's M&O Fund

For this assignment, I reviewed the 2009-2010 Budgeted Financial Data for Orangefield ISD on TEA's website to gather facts.  According to the data, the Maintenance and Operations Fund (M&O) source of revenue is based on several factors that include the ADA, WADA, and local tax revenue (2005-06 funding).  31.48% (or $3,600,000) of our district's M&O fund comes from local taxes, 67.18% (or $7,681,499) from state taxes, and .16% (or $18,000) from federal taxes.  The main factor in determining the M&O is ADA and student population.  The WADA is important because each student has a weight based on their "status" and this weight can increase per pupil accounted for.  Some examples of WADA allotments are special education, compensatory education, career and technical education, bilingual education and gifted and talented education.
After reviewing the 2009-2010 Budgeted Financial Data, I found that Orangefield ISD's M&O Fund for this past year was $11,369,656.  48.95% (or $5,488,499) of these funds are appropriated for instructional purposes.  Payroll expenses account for 78.52% (or $8,927,040), other operating expenses account for 20.10% (or $2,285,016) and capital outlay accounts for 1.39% (or $157,600) of the M&O.  Currently, our district is operating in the black based on revenue versus expenditures.  For 2009-2010, the district had $11,434,949 in revenue and operating costs of $11,369,656.  This is a surplus of $65,293.
The district has been growing at a consistent rate and was budgeting for an increase in students for the current school year.  In reality, we had an unplanned shortfall when our enrollment dropped by 50 students.  These figures, which were budgeted for 50 additional students, are adjusted and monitored carefully and monthly updates are reviewed by administrative personnel and shared with all district employees.  OIDS's M&O allocations and our district expenditures are closely related.  Allocations appear to be appropriate, with very few areas to watch for overspending.  There is concern among the administration about expenditures due to the decrease in student population and this concern has been shown by cutting budgets across the board.
According to the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST), OISD has scored a Superior Rating for seven of the past eight years, with a rating of "Above Standard Achievement" in the 2003-2004 school year.  The main areas of concern are the State of Texas' financial issues and what impact they could have on future funding, which will affect our district.