Calculating the FTE Value of the Students in a Typical Elementary School

Order Description

Happy Trails Elementary School recently opened in Palm Beach County to serve students in grades Kindergarten through fifth. The students in grades K – 5 attend from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Each student receives a daily 30 minute lunch period, as well as 30 minutes per week of music, media, P.E., computer, and art. The school’s enrollment is as follows:

Grade Enrollment

K 188

1 169

2 204

3 193

4 248

5 238

Total 1,240

The school draws some of its population from a section of the county in which many of the residents do not use English as their primary language at home. To accommodate the diverse needs of the children from this population, ALL the regular education teachers at Happy Trails have completed the required in-service training to be able to provide English Language Learners (ELL) support. The school has three teachers hired to provide intensive ELL instruction. The ELL population is as follows:

Grade ELL Students

K 31

1 32

2 33

3 30

4 25

5 23

Total 174

* ELL is often called Limited English Proficient (LEP) or English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). These terms are used interchangeably within the professional literature.

The school has a K-5 ESE population of 143 students. These students are mildly disabled (either Speech/Language or Learning Disabled) and served in the regular classroom, with some “pullout” for direct instruction. The 75 Speech/Language students are seen by the SLP for 60-90 minutes per week. None of the ESE students have a Matrix score of 254 or 255.

ESE students that

Grade ESE Students are also ELL*

K 18 5

1 23 3

2 23 6

3 24 5

4 25 6

5 30 4

Total 143 29

* These students are a subset of both the ELL & ESE totals. There are 18 Kg ESE students and 31 ELL students. 5 students are included in both counts.

Additionally, the district ESE department has opened three pre-K handicapped programs at Happy Trails Elementary, serving the needs of the Pre-K handicapped population in the area. The Pre-K students are primarily classified as Speech/Language Impaired or Developmentally Delayed. The Pre-K population of 95 students is served as follows:

Program # students Instructional Time Matrix

Program 1 31 students 600 min/wk NA (funded under 111 – ESE PK-3)

Program 2 37 students 1350 min/wk 255

Program 3 27 students 750 min/wk 254

What is the annual Unweighted FTE, by FEFP Program, of the entire (including the PK students) school population? (6 points, 1 point for each FEFP program)
What is the annual Weighted FTE, by FEFP Program, of the entire school population, using the 2011/2012 or newer if available Cost Factors? (1 point)
What is the FTE dollar value, including the District Cost Differential (DCD), of these students? (2 points)
Suppose this school was located in Escambia County. What is the FTE dollar value of these students, including the District Cost Differential? (1 point)