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Finance committee discusses public financial dashboard and wants per‑pupil and special‑education breakdowns
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Summary
Committee members asked staff to build a public financial dashboard showing per‑pupil spending, enrollment, salary and benefits breakdowns and suggested bar charts with hover pop‑outs so the community can see where money is spent; staff said they will prepare draft views for the website.
Members of the Centennial School District finance committee spent part of their April 16 meeting reviewing proposals for a public financial dashboard and offering design guidance aimed at improving transparency.
The Director asked for committee feedback on potential dashboard views — per‑pupil expenditures, bond rating, enrollment, operating fund balances and expenditures by object code — and said he wanted a product the community could understand and maintain. “I’m really looking for your thoughts, feedback, what things you think would make for good dashboards,” the Director said.
Committee members recommended clear, plain‑English displays that start by showing the district’s largest cost categories. One member urged starting with teachers as the top expense so community members can immediately see how funds are allocated. Another recommended consistent bar charts for both revenue and expenditures with hover pop‑outs that reveal purchase‑level details behind larger categories.
Staff walked the committee through per‑pupil and special‑education comparisons: staff said the district’s per‑pupil spending is about $24,000 versus a county average near $22,800, and that special‑education spending is roughly $46,000 compared with a county average of about $47,000. Committee members asked staff to present payroll breakdowns (professional staff, support staff, administration), counts for each category and benefit‑cost detail so the public can better understand the drivers of personnel costs.
The committee discussed dashboard formats (dollar‑bill graphic vs. bar charts) and favored a combination of an overview visual plus drill‑downs. Staff said they are preparing sample slides and webpage views to present back to the committee and to post on the district website as part of a transparency initiative.
The committee did not take formal action on the dashboard at the meeting; staff will return with draft visuals for further review.
