Dorchester Times: Comparing Spending Of Area Schools

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Comparing Spending Of Area Schools

Last week, the Times reported on a statewide study that found the annual cost of educating Dorchester students significantly exceeded the state average.

According to the study, Dorchester Public School's per-pupil cost for school year 2013-14 was $16,911 when broken down by average daily membership of the student body.

That is a lot of money, especially considering the average cost-per-pupil statewide was $11,364.

Dorchester school board members -- who make spending decisions and set a large portion of our property tax levies -- need to be mindful of the taxpayers' resources.

But there's more to the story.

We wanted to see how the education expenditures of DPS compare to other area schools. Keep in mind there are economies of scale involved in education, just like any other service in the private or public sector. A larger number of students in a school district typically means more efficient use of tax dollars -- but not necessarily a higher quality of education.

Using state supplied data, here's a look at the per-pupil spending of area schools, from highest to lowest. (We hope all area taxpayers see this comparison since funding for K-12 education represents more than 60% of the average property tax bill in Nebraska.)

Comparing Per-Pupil Expenditures of Area Schools

Bruning-Davenport Schools ................ $27,995 per pupil

Exeter-Milligan Public Schools ........... $23,769 per pupil

Shickley Public Schools ...................... $22,082 per pupil

Friend Public Schools .......................... $18,007 per pupil

Meridian Public Schools ...................... $17,468 per pupil

Dorchester Public Schools ................... $16,911 per pupil

Tri-County Public Schools ................... $16,366 per pupil

Deshler Public Schools ........................ $16,201 per pupil

Fillmore Central Schools ..................... $16,068 per pupil

Diller-Odell Public Schools .................. $15,948 per pupil

Thayer Central Community Schools ... $14,799 per pupil

Fairbury Public Schools ....................... $12,852 per pupil

Freeman Public Schools ...................... $12,143 per pupil

Seward Public Schools ......................... $11,487 per pupil

Milford Public Schools ......................... $11,433 per pupil

Nebraska Average ................................ $11,364 per pupil

Crete Public Schools ............................ $11,088 per pupil

Wilber-Clatonia Public Schools ........... $10,746 per pupil

Beatrice Public Schools ....................... $10,491 per pupil

Norris School District ........................... $9,790 per pupil

2 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 9, 2015 at 5:51 PM
actually when you look at the class d size schools, dorchester does OK, about in the middle of the pack
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DaveSeptember 9, 2015 at 9:23 PM
Too bad that some little blog has to report this information and it goes ignored by the big boys and girls at the Lincoln and Omaha papers. Must worry about p' off the teachers union.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."