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1995-96 Maine Resident Students: Per Pupil Operating Costs:

General Information:

The Operating Costs include all general fund costs reported in each School Administrative Unit's annual Financial Report of Public Schools (EF-M-45) except major capital outlay, debt service, and transportation expenditures. Since this report is based only on resident pupils, any tuition receipts have been deducted from the cost data.

The count of Average Resident Pupils is an average of those resident students reported on the October 1st and April 1st Resident Enrollment Reports (EF-M-11 & EF-M-12) for which a School Administrative Unit is financially responsible.

These statistics are separated into two parts. Part 1. is in school administrative code order (Towns, S.A.D.'s, and C.S.D.'s). Part 2. is in rank order by per pupil operating costs. Each Part is divided into the following four sections:

• All Administrative Units: Includes all School Administrative Units in the State of Maine.

• Units Tuitioning All (K-12) Students: Includes all School Administrative Units that tuition all their students to another School Administrative Unit or Private School.

• Units Tuitioning Secondary (9-12) Students: Includes all School Administrative Units that have their own schools for grades kindergarten through eight and tuition students in grades nine through twelve to another School Administrative Unit or Private School.

• Units Tuitioning Few Students: Includes all School Administrative Units that have their own schools for grades kindergarten through twelve.

Note: Some Community School Districts include the per pupils costs that are attributed to the member towns outside the Community School District so that each towns expenditures are viewed as a whole instead of its separated portions; this is necessary for comparable costs with other School Administrative Units. These units are considered a "K-12 Units Tuitioning Few Students".

State Summary:

The State Summary of Maine Resident Students: Per Pupil Operating Costs displays for each type of unit and all administrative units the highest, average, and lowest per pupil operating costs.

STATE SUMMARY 1995-96 HIGHEST, AVERAGE AND LOWEST PER PUPIL OPERATING COSTS
TYPES OF UNITS		HIGHEST COSTS		AVERAGE COSTS		LOWEST COSTS
Units Tuitioning All (K-12) Students		$5,397.91		$4,314.49		$3,253.05
K-8 Units Tuitioning Secondary (9-12) Students		$12,727.12		$4,566.26		$3,550.34
K-12 Units Tuitioning Few Students		$9,555.79		$4,772.00		$3,646.03
All Administrative Units		$12,727.12		$4,738.41		$3,253.05

The statewide average per-pupil operating cost in 1995-96 is $4,738.41. Per-pupil operating costs for individual units range from $3,253.05 to $12,727.12. However, the per-pupil operating costs for slightly more than 54 percent of the school administrative units are within $500 of the state average: from $4,238.41 to $5,238.41.

Trends:

The statewide average per-pupil operating cost has increased steadily over the past five years. From 1989-90 to 1995-96, the average per-pupil operating costs has increased from $3,858.45 to $4,738.41, representing an average annual increase of 3.5 percent. The following table displays the average per-pupil operating cost for the past seven years, and the annual percentage of increase for each year.

Fiscal Year	1989-90	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
Per Pupil Operating Cost	$3,858.45	$4,171.44	$4,226.97	$4,299.19	$4,411.02	$4,600.92	$4,738.41
Annual Percent Increase	11.4%	8.1%	1.3%	1.7%	2.6%	4.3%	3.0%

Factors Influencing Per-Pupil Operating Costs:

As indicated above, the per-pupil operating cost varies for different units, ranging from $3,253.05 to $12,727.12. There are many factors that influence the size of a unit's per-pupil operating cost. One of the factors that affects the amount of the per-pupil operating cost is discussed below:

• There is a state-mandated maximum tuition rate that may be charged by any school administrative unit for students received from other school units.

• Consequently, the proportion of students that are tuitioned to other school administrative units is related to the per-pupil operating costs of the school administrative units. In particular, units that tuition all of their pupils have, in general, lower per-pupil operating costs than do other units. The state-wide average per-pupil operating costs for these units is $4,314.49: $423.92 below the state average for all units.

• In contrast, units which tuition few (or none) of their pupils to other units have, in general, higher per-pupil operating costs than do other units. The state-wide average per-pupil operating cost for these units is $4,772.00: $33.59 above the state average for all units. The table at the end of this section summarizes this average per-pupil operating cost data for three types of units, and also for all types of units combined.