Foundations try to justify donation requests by comparing San Dieguito to Los Gatos-SJUHSD, an unlik
Recently three SDUHSD Foundations teamed up to put out a news release: San Dieguito Union High School District and Canyon Crest Academy rank #1 in Niche School Rating The purpose of the release was to justify the foundations' constant requests for parent donations, which are now in the millions. Our district gets the same base funding as all other LCFF districts, but some districts get additional funds for needy students. (Fortunately, our district does not have as many needy students, but this "plus" is constantly turned into a negative to try to justify parent funding of district and school programs.) Other districts may have different funding because they are "basic aid" districts.
In the article the foundations tried to compare San Dieguito with Los Gatos-Saratoga's district, and states:
"The gap in funding for the top-ranked district in the county is much higher when compared to a district with comparable demographics, the Los Gatos-Saratoga District, which receives $4,934 more in per student funding, according to the news release."
Of course, the article did not point out that Los Gatos Saratoga District is classified as a "basic aid" district, which as noted above, does not fall subject to the LCFF funding program in the same manner.
What is Basic Aid you may ask: There are 102 "basic aid" districts, whose schools are funded by local property taxes. These districts do not receive money from the Local Control Funding Formula.
SDUHSD was a Basic Aid District from roughly 2009-2015. At this time, it is not. Learn about the history here.
So to understand how faulty the foundations' comparison is, readers need to understand the significant differences between the SDUHSD and Los Gatos-SJUHSD:
1) Los Gatos-SJUHSD is Basic Aid; SDUHSD is not
2) Los Gatos-SJUHSD has a parcel tax; SDUHSD does not (Do we want one?)
3) Los Gatos-SJUHSD has 3,368 Students in 2016; SDUHSD has 12,148
4) Los Gatos-SJUHSD has 2 High Schools; 1 Alternative HS and and No MS -- You all know what we have.
Los Gatos also prioritizes the use of its funding very differently. Compare the charts below to see the districts have decided how to compensate people and use its public funding.
In comparing the Basic Aid District to our District, you will notice that they value teachers more than bureaucracy.
The data is based on 2016 data downloaded from Transparent California, so the charts are only as good as the data provided by the Districts.
Our ask: Is raising money really the most important thing if we don't know how it is being spent? This is only people dollars?
Where is the SDUHSD money really going?
SDUHSD celebrates getting to #1 on a metric that matters:
CCA - 2017 College Readiness Score 77.4/100.0
TPHS - 2017 College Readiness Score 63.9/100.0
LCCHS - 2017 College Readiness Score 53.8/100.0
SDHA - 2017 College Readiness Score 56.5/100.0
Los Gatos-Saratoga JUHSD Schools
Saratoga HS - 2017 College Readiness Score 73.8/100.0
Los Gatos HS - 2017 College Readiness Score 63.5/100.0