Audit indicates reduction funds were well used — in contrast to statewide trend

Tooele County School District was one of the few districts in the state that was able to reduce class sizes through state funds issued for that purpose. It was also one of only 18 districts that tracked the use of such funds in terms of efficiency, according to a recent legislative audit.

"The funds have had an impact on our class size, especially when you consider our growth rate," said Mike Johnsen, Tooele County School District superintendent.

The state has spent a total of nearly $450 million since 2000 on class-size reduction. An audit of those funds by the Utah Legislative Auditor General revealed that while the money was spent by school districts appropriately, it had little effect on reducing overall class sizes in most districts.

In 2000, the Utah State Legislature allocated $56.2 million for class-size reduction — money earmarked to pay salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes for additional teachers beyond the regular appropriation for schools. That allocation was enough to hire an estimated additional 1,175 teachers statewide. In 2006, the class-size reduction allocation had grown to $70.1 million. Due to the increased costs of employing previously hired teachers however, this amount was only enough to hire two additional new teachers, according to the state Office of the Legislative Auditor General.

The audit looked at the annual increase in payroll expenses of schools to determine if excessive increases in salaries drained away funds for hiring new teachers. The audit concluded that changes in teacher compensation were reasonable when compared to compensation of other state employees.

However, Tooele School District hired more teachers during the years covered by the audit the any other school district. The number of teachers hired through class-size reduction funds grew from 34 in 2000 to 51 in 2006, according to the audit.

Tooele County School District received an 8 percent increase in class-size reduction funds annually from 2000 to 2006 because of large increases in enrollment. From 2004 to 2006, the district kicked in an additional $895,768 of its own funds to supplement the class-size reduction program.

At the elementary level, the school district tries to average 26 students per teacher. The ratio is kept a little lower in kindergarten through third grade, and a little higher in the upper grades, said Johnsen.

"We are seeing fewer upper grade classes that exceed 30 students," said Johnsen.

Tooele County School District was one of eight districts selected for the audit. Only three of the selected districts, including Tooele, tracked the class-size reduction funds separate from other general funds. Independent tracking of the funds was not a requirement of the law.

Johnsen praised Richard Reese, district business administrator, and his staff for doing an excellent job of tracking funds from all sources and assuring they are used as intended.

"It would be great to be able to reduce class size more," said Johnsen. "However, to reduce class size throughout the district by one student would cost over $1 million."

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com