NJCU Finance Paper

Below are the assignment requirements. The town it is about is North Bergen, NJ. Any other resources for clarity can be provided.

“Write a 2-4 page paper that synthesizes the information pertinent to your specific school district
( you can choose the district within which you work or where you live,
your choice). In essence, you are reporting on the financial standing
of your district using the precise resources and data to support your
work. In other words, this paper isn’t simply your opinion or
assumptions, but present it as a factual report for your district.

Use the first link to the NJ DOE website that provides a “friendly budget” for each district.
You’ll recognize some of the terminology from previous readings. The
objective for you is to look at your district’s budget information “from
the balcony”… in other words, not absorbed in each line detail, but
more looking at the trends that you might notice in the following areas –

– 1) what are enrollment trends?

– 2) what are revenue trends? what is the average percentage for local, state, & federal revenue sources?

– 3) what are expenditure trends? what is the per pupil cost calculation?

Next, summarize the Ed Law Center piece on Underfunded School Districts and then

go to the next link and use all 4 reporting tools to search your own district to analyze & summarize the information pertaining to the district’s SFRA profile.
Use the school finance terminology in your writing. Is your district
below adequacy? Compare your district’s weighted pupil costs with
another district.

As you synthesize the information for your district and what you may be reading in your local press, where does your district stand in light of the current budget season? Is it one of the 200 underfunded districts or not and what impact is that having on your district?

Finally, report on your district’s
debt. Place it in comparison to other districts (is your district’s
debt high? average? low?) If you can, explain how or why your district
is at the debt level that it is…. recent building projects? recently
paid off debt?”