Deer Valley Unified School District

Deer Valley USD’s fiscal year 2005 per-pupil administration costs were slightly higher than comparable districts’ due to higher staffing and salary levels. The food service program was self-sufficient with a cost per meal similar to comparable districts’. However, the District served more meals per student and, therefore, spent a higher portion of its current operating dollars on food service expenditures. The District spent more per pupil on transportation than the comparable districts and subsidized the program with $1.4 million that potentially could otherwise have been spent in the classroom. These higher costs were primarily due to its large geographic size, inefficient routes, bus storage locations, and higher staffing levels. The District had lower plant operation and maintenance costs than the comparable districts, mainly due to having newer buildings, an extensive preventative maintenance program, and more in-house technical expertise. Deer Valley USD may have used Proposition 301 monies to supplant about $1 million in other monies and spent $116,000 of its menu monies for expenditures not allowed by law. After adjusting for accounting errors, Deer Valley USD’s classroom dollar percentage was 60.2 percent, which is still 1.8 points above the state average. However, its total per-pupil spending was lower than the comparable district, state, and national averages. The District received less state funding than the comparable districts because it did not have desegregation monies, a K-3 override, or a Career Ladder program, and it had fewer English Language Learners and special needs students, for whom a district receives additional funding.