What is HVRSD’s per pupil spending, and why should we care?

There’s been a lot of buzz recently around HVRSD’s seemingly high “per pupil spending”, and is it an appropriate measurement of a school district’s performance? The answer is yes, but not by itself. Per pupil spending is important to be sure. As with all metrics, however, it is best to consider multiple measures in comparing our per pupil costs with other school districts.

When discussing the Hopewell Valley Regional School District’s (HVRSD) upcoming November referendum, it’s important to use terminology that is consistent and clearly defined.

With this in mind, we review recent “claims” and present their actual corresponding data, and let you judge their merits for yourself.

Claim #1

“The numbers are all over the place. Depending on what website you go to, you’ll get a different number for per pupil.”

Agree, the numbers can differ by website. However, the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) clearly documents which variables are included in each metric. Further, the NJDOE consistently applies the same measures to every district analysis.

We begin by introducing NJDOE Total Spending Per Pupil. Total Spending Per Pupil was first developed to provide a comprehensive representation of school district expenditures. It includes transportation costs, special education tuition payments, capital investments, and other clearly defined data. This measure is not commonly used, but it trends the same as the more conventional “budgetary” per pupil spending.

“Budgetary” per pupil spending is more commonly applied, tracked annually, and excludes the Total Spending categories included in the first chart above.

We are using the most recent NJDOE audited data available in this discussion so that we can compare the same data across all districts and categories.

Claim #2

 “It’s not fair to compare districts with differing demographics, such as big districts against small, or regional with non-regional, or K-8 versus K-12.”

Agree, in part. First, let’s look at the per pupil spending of all school districts in Mercer County. For many decades, the NJDOE classified HVRSD in the same operating group as Princeton, Lawrence, Ewing, and East Windsor. It’s similarly sized with 4 elementary schools, and 1 middle and 1 high school. However, a short time before COVID, student enrollment dropped below 3,500 students, and the DOE reclassified it.

Fortunately, the DOE’s Budgetary Per Pupil data is routinely segmented by operating type, including number of students enrolled, and whether the district serves K-12 or a subset. Our district is categorized as a Regional K-12 with between 1,801-3,500 students. All public-school districts in Mercer County are also K-12.

So now let’s look at how HVRSD per pupil spending compares to that of all New Jersey Regional School Districts grouped into three NJDOE defined student enrollment categories (0-1,800; 1,801-3,500; 3,501+).

Our per pupil costs are comparatively high no matter which way you examine the data. However, the center grouping indicates how HVRSD’s per pupil costs stack up against other “like-sized” Regional districts.

Interestingly, as shown in the chart above, within our operating enrollment group, HVRSD is ranked 73/74 for all like-sized districts in New Jersey. This means that 98% of K-12 districts with 1,801-3,500 students across the entire state of New Jersey have lower per pupil spending than HVRSD. Only a small borough in Bergen County has a higher per pupil spending than HVRSD in our “like-sized” operating group.

Claim #3

“Our Per Pupil Spending is so high because we value small class sizes.”

Agree, in part. We believe that how the district allocates spending should reflect its values.

However, as noted above, HVRSD’s budgetary per pupil spending is the highest of all school districts in Mercer County, the second highest of all K-12 regional districts in New Jersey and the second highest of all like-sized districts in New Jersey.

Yet, the District’s actual per pupil spending on our elementary students is among the lowest of all school districts in Mercer County.

Conversely, HVRSD’s per pupil spending on Central Administration is far and away the highest of all school districts in Mercer County.

Conclusion

While not directly related to any upcoming decisions about referendum facilities spending, knowing whether our school district responsibly spends our taxpayer money will have an effect on this fall’s decision.

Ask yourself this as you review the data above. Are we spending responsibly on a per pupil basis compared to other school districts in Mercer County and New Jersey as a whole?

The data used in the analyses above is reported annually by every school district so that districts’ spending can be compared across New Jersey. All source data is available on TEAHV.org and on the NJDOE’s website here: https://www.nj.gov/education/guide/2024tges.shtml and here https://rc.doe.state.nj.us