The Board of Education is already talking about the 2010-2011 school budget and they are analyzing each line item with scrunity now so as not to repeat the situation the district faced last year when Gov. Chris Christie cut 100 percent of Summit's state aid with just two weeks to file a budget.

Since the district's administrators are already talking about the budget, the residents of Summit should be, too. The School Report Card, released recently by the State Department of Education, sheds light on several data points relating to the education of students in the Hill City.

Most notably is a comparision of the years of experience of the district's administrators and their corresponding salary.

In 2006-2007, the median years experience for district administrators was 26 years compared to the state average of 23. In 2007-2008, Summit's median was 27 yearswhile the state median dropped to 22. In the final year of data, 2008-2009, Summit's median administrator years experince rose to 28 while the state median fell again to 21.

As one might imagine, administrators with more years of experience cost the district more. The median salary of Summit administrators rose from $120,293 in 2006-2007, to $127,298 in 2007-2008 and to $130,625 in 2008-2009.

Faculty years of experience and salary

In comparison, the median years experience for the district's faculty is more on par with the state average of nine years, only rising above that to 10 years of experience in 2008-2009.

Summit teachers also make slightly more than the state average. In 2006-2007 teachers in the district made a median salary of $58,355 while the state median sat at $55,550. In 2007-2008, Summit teachers made a median of $61,948 compared to a state median of $57,242. In 2008-2009, the district paid a median salary of $60,752 compared to a state median of $59,545.

Cost per pupil

The district also spends 10 percent of it's cost per student on administrative salary and benefits, compared to a state figure of 8 percent. The state spends 55 percent of its cost per pupil on faculty salary and benfits compared to Summit which spends 61 percent.

However there are two ways of calculating per pupil expenditures, a comparative cost per pupil which represents a comparison with districts with similar budget types, and a raw cost per pupil figure.

Summit outspends the state average in every category when looking at the rare cost per pupil expenditures, except support services and operations and maintenance. Summit spent a total of $15,003 on each student compared to the state average of $15,168 in 2008-2009. When looking at the comparative cost per pupil expenditure, Summit spent $13,753 during that same time frame compared to the state average of $13,601.



Revenue

The district's revenue sources changed slightly over the three years the report card details. The local portion of the district's revenue increased from 90 percent in 2006-2007 to 93 percent in 2008-2009 while revenue from "other" sources fell from three percent in 2007-2007 to one percent in 2007-2008 and then to zero percent in 2008-2009.



Student/Faculty Ratio

Summit also has a higher student to faculty ratio than the state average. In 2006-2007. the district's ratio was 12.0 while the state average was 10.9. In 2007-2008, Summit's ratio was 13.3 while the state average was 10.7. In the final year for data, the district's student/faculty ratio was 12.3 while the state average was 10.8.