How does Battle Ground SD compare Nationally?

I found a web site that lets you compare your school district to similar districts across the nation. The link below takes you to the search we set up. You can click on the various links and get more details. Here’s the link and below we’ll make some observations: http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/search/peergroupdata.asp?dataid=4&subdataid=1&mt=0&pagenumber=1&bleaid=5300380&jobid={BD037219-E1DA-4797-9DEC-1B12C8BC9F3B} 

What can we take away?

1. Six (6) of the districts have a slightly lower student/teacher ration so the class sizes are a little bit smaller
2. Only 3 of the districts spend less than Battle Ground which means that 6 spend more
3. The expense for student and staff support is $866 which makes Battle Ground the 2nd lowest – suggesting more money going to the class room
4. Admin expenses for Battle Ground are $947. Only 3 districts spend more. On the surface this suggests that Battle Ground spends MORE on admin that most of the comparison districts which means less money goes to the class room
5. Operation, Food and Other – Battle Ground is in the middle of the pack
6. Revenue – Battle Ground shows $9200 received per student. Only two (2) districts get less money per student. At the top end of this comparison group $12,349. This suggests that Battle Ground is working with less money than most of the comparators.

Finally, the percentage of children listed as living in poverty is similar across the board (Battle Ground = 12.6%). Conclusions? Battle Ground appears to favorably compare to similar districts on a financial basis. We would need to look at test scores to see if the return on the investment was better or worse.

What do you think?