SFRA wonks reading this already know that SFRA is a "weighted aid formula" which sets higher spending targets for districts with more at-risk students than it does for districts with fewer at-risk students. Thus, a district with more high school students, more students who are Free & Reduced Lunch eligible, and more students who are English Language Learners will have a higher Adequacy Budget than a district where the students are uniformly middle-class and Anglophone. SFRA wonks know that SFRA also uses "exponential weighting" for at-risk students, which means that there are additional added weights for at-risk students who attend a district that is 40-60% FRL-eligible and a higher weight still if a district is over 60% FRL-eligible.
If you're curious about what the weights actually are, the 2016 Education Adequacy Report provides them.
Background:
SFRA uses its weighting formula to create an "Adequacy Budget" for a district, ie, the amount a district should spend in order to provide a "thorough and efficient education."
Under SFRA, if a district's tax base is insufficient to meet its Adequacy Budget, the district receives Equalization Aid to make up the difference under the formula. SFRA's term for a district's tax-levy capacity is "Local Fair Share."
Hence, a district like Asbury Park, whose students are over 90% FRL-eligible, has an actual enrollment of 2,168, but a "weighted enrollment" of 3,563. Freehold Boro has an actual enrollment of 1,673 and a "weighted enrollment" of 2,503.
On the other hand, a district with middle-class or affluent students will have a much weaker weighting. North Caldwell, an elementary-only district whose students are very affluent, has an actual enrollment of 651 and a weighted enrollment of 655. Chesterfield, another elementary-only district, but which is more middle-class than North Caldwell, has an actual enrollment is 770 and its "weighted enrollment" is only 788.
SFRA uses its weighting formula to create an "Adequacy Budget" for a district, ie, the amount a district should spend in order to provide a "thorough and efficient education."
Under SFRA, if a district's tax base is insufficient to meet its Adequacy Budget, the district receives Equalization Aid to make up the difference under the formula. SFRA's term for a district's tax-levy capacity is "Local Fair Share."
Hence, a district like Asbury Park, whose students are over 90% FRL-eligible, has an actual enrollment of 2,168, but a "weighted enrollment" of 3,563. Freehold Boro has an actual enrollment of 1,673 and a "weighted enrollment" of 2,503.
On the other hand, a district with middle-class or affluent students will have a much weaker weighting. North Caldwell, an elementary-only district whose students are very affluent, has an actual enrollment of 651 and a weighted enrollment of 655. Chesterfield, another elementary-only district, but which is more middle-class than North Caldwell, has an actual enrollment is 770 and its "weighted enrollment" is only 788.
After calculating a district's Adequacy Budget and separately calculating the Local Fair Share, SFRA applies this formula to calculate Equalization Aid, the most important stream of aid:
Anyway, if you've ever wondered what your district's weighted enrollment is or how high the weighting can inflate a district's enrollment, this Weighted Enrollment Spreadsheet gives you your answers.
The following districts whose enrollments are inflated the most through the "weighted enrollment" process.
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Equalization Aid = Adequacy Budget - Local Fair Share.
Anyway, if you've ever wondered what your district's weighted enrollment is or how high the weighting can inflate a district's enrollment, this Weighted Enrollment Spreadsheet gives you your answers.
The following districts whose enrollments are inflated the most through the "weighted enrollment" process.
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2021 Update:
- Civic Parent lays out the details of Weighted Student Enrollment.
- 2020 Education Adequacy Report Drives Big Changes to State Aid
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