DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR BUREAU OF THE CENSUS E, DANA DURAND. DIRECTOR STANDARD FORM tor Reporting the Financial Statistics of Public Schools By L. G. POWERS, Chief Statistician, United States Bureau of the Census and W. S. SMALL, Principal, Eastern High School, Washington, D, C. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1911 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR BUREAU OF THE CENSUS E. DANA DURAND, DIRECTOR STANDARD FORM for Reporting the Financial Statistics of Public Schools By' L. G. POWERS, Chief Statistician, United States Bureau of the Census and W. S. SMALL, Principal, Eastern High School, Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 19U CONTENTS. Page. Letter of transmittal 5 Introduction 7 Essential features of the standard form 7 Line numbers and letters , 8 Payments 9 Receipts 11 Explanations and instructions 12 Uniform reports and different methods of accounting 12 Reports for cities with cash accounts 13 Reports for cities having revenue accounts 13 Reports for cities with special supply accounts 13 Reporting data in greater detail 13 Reporting data in less detail 14 Net payments and receipts only to be reported 14 General classification of payments 14 Expenses of general administration 15 Board of education 15 School elections and school census 15 Finance offices and accounts 15 General legal services 15 Operation and maintenance of office building 16 Offices in charge of buildings 16 Offices in charge of supplies 16 Office of superintendent of schools 16 Enforcement of compulsory education and truancy laws 16 General promotion of health 16 Other expenses of general control 16 Kinds of schools 16 Expenses o'f instruction 17 Supervision 17 Free textbooks 18 Stationery and other supplies used in instruction 18 Libraries 18 Other expenses of instruction 18 Expenses of operation of school plant 18 Wages of janitors and other employees 18 Janitor's supplies 18 Fuel 19 Water 19 Light and power 19 Other expenses of operation of school plant 19 Expenses of maintenance of school plant 19 Repair of buildings and upkeep of grounds 19 Repair and replacement of equipment 19 Insurance 19 3 4 • Contents. Page. Mscellaneous expenses 19 Pensions 20 Payments for outlays ., 20 Land 20 New buildings 20 Equipment of buildings 20 Payments of interest and on debt account 20 Interest 20 Redemption of debt obligations 21 Miscellaneous payments 21 Transfer payments to other funds 21 Payments in error and refunds 21 Balances 21 Instructions for reporting receipts 21 Explanations and definitions 21 Revenue receipts 22 Appropriations from city treasury 22 Taxes and licenses 22 Subventions, grants, and gifts 22 Rent, interest, etc 22 Other revenue receipts 23 Receipts on debt account 23 Miscellaneous receipts 24 Transfers from permanent funds 24 Balances at beginning of year 24 Adaptation of standard form to needs of public-school systems 24 Condensed form of reports 24 Subdivisions of title 24 Systems with many kinds of schools 25 Systems with more than one type of secondary school 25 Systems with instructions departmentalized 26 Additional numbered and lettered titles 26 Reports of fund transactions 26 Reports of special accoimts 27 Supplemental statement of payments for educational purposes 27 Standard form for summarizing value of school properties 28 Statement of school assets and liabilities 28 Fiscal year and school year 28 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau op the Census, Washington, D. C, August 5, igii. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a monograph presenting and describing a standard form for reporting the financial statistics of public schools, prepared by Mr. Le Grand Powers, chief statistician in charge of statistics of cities, and Mr. W. S. Small, principal of the Eastern High School, of Washington, D. C, and presented by the latter at the annual meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association, held at Mobile, Ala., February 23-25, 191 1. In classification and terminology this "Standard Eorm" corresponds to that of Schedule G 34, now used by this bureau for reporting the financial statistics of schools. The obligation of the Bureau of the Census to present the financial statistics of schools is a part of its duty to prepare annually the financial statistics of cities. A large part of municipal expenditure is for purposes of education, and no statement of city finance would be complete without a presentation and analysis of the figures referring to schools. In the preparation of its schedules relating to school finances the Bureau of the Census has had the cordial cooperation and support of the Bureau of Education. The purpose of this monograph is to present to the fiscal officers of the public schools a practicable, uniform method of accounting. The adop- tion of such a uniform system of accounting and reporting will greatly facilitate the collection of the financial statistics of schools and mate- rially reduce the cost of same. It will also make possible a comparison of the efficiency and economy of school systems, and will furnish a basis for a more intelligent study of school administration than has been possible heretofore. Very respectfully, do txyv.4. a. Equipment of new buildings and b. Eqmpment of old buildings exclusive Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 1 1 PAYMENTS— Continued. PAYMENTS OF INTEREST AND ON DEBT ACCOUNT. 25. Interest $ 26. a. Redemption of bonds 6. Redemption of short-term loans c. Redemption of warrants and audited claims of preceding year d. Repayments on private trust accounts 27. Transfers to sinking funds Total payments of interest and on debt account MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS AND BALANCES. 28. a. Payments in error $ 6. Refund payments in correction of erroneous receipts c. Canceled and transferred appropriations." 29. a. Payments to trust funds 6. Payments to investment funds 30. a. Payments for textbooks to be sold to pupils b. Payments for increasing stock of supplies c d ; Total miscellaneous payments Total payments 51. Balances at close of year: a. Cash $ h. Appropriations Grand total payments and balances. RECEIPTS. REVENUE RECEIPTS. 32. Appropriations and gifts from city treasury (other than from bond sales) . a. Appropriations, annual and supplemental b. Gift of free water, light, and power 33. o. General property taxes 6 c d e. Poll taxes /. Liquor taxes and licenses (7. Other licenses and permits 34. Fines and penalties 35. Subventions (or apportionments) from other civil divisions: a. Apportionments from state 6. Apportionments from county c. Apportionments from other civil divisions 36. Gifts from private individuals 37. a. Rent 6. Interest 38. Other revenue receipts: a. Tuition charges '. h Total revenue receipts . 12 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. RECEIPTS— Continued. RECEIPTS ON DEBT ACCOUNT. Receipts from bond sales: Par value of bonds sold $. Premiums secured Accrued interest received Discounts allowed . Net receipts from sales , $ . a. Receipts from short-term obligations issued b. Warrants issued and claims audited during year but not paid c. Receipts on private trust accounts a. Appropriations from municipal bond sales . . ., b. Transfer receipts from sinking funds Total receipts on debt account . MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS AND BALANCES. a. Receipts from sales of real property b. Receipts from insurance adjustments c. Receipts from sales of scrap and equipment balanced by replacement charges . d. Other sales of scrap and equipment a. Receipts in error 6. Receipts in correction of erroneous payments a. Transfer receipts from trust funds b. Transfer receipts from investment funds a. Receipts from sales of books to pupils 6. Receipts from decreasing stock of supplies Total miscellaneous nonrevenue receipts . Total receipts 46. Balances at beginning of year: a. Cash $. b. Appropriations Grand total receipts and balances . EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS. Uniform reports and different methods of accounting. — Any scheme for uniform reports to be usable by all the schools of the country must be easily adjusted to the needs of cities and villages having all possi- ble methods of accounting and of transacting business — good and bad, scientific and unscientific. It must, above all else, be adjustable to the great majority of cities whose only accounts, other than those with appro- priations, are those with cash receipts and payments. It must also be adjustable to the limited number of cities and villages which, seeking better accounting and business methods, have in recent years introduced so-called "revenue and expense accounts," or "accounts with revenue and Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 13 expense accruals." Again, the scheme of uniform reports must be adjustable to the needs of cities that have an "office of supplies" and charge the value of supplies as expenses or outlays only when they are drawn by requisition for the use of particular branches of the service; likewise for those that charge the cost of supplies to these branches of service when such supplies are purchased. Attention is called to the devices here suggested for securing approximate statements of the cost of conducting schools on the part of systems using all these different methods of accounting. _ Reports for cities with cash accounts. — In the case of schools whose only or principal accounts are those with cash receipts and payments, the scheme of uniform reports here presented calls for the presentation of expenses and outlays on the basis of the warrants or orders drawn on the treasury by the auditor or other controlling officer in payment or settlement of claims. The total of these warrants or orders is the nearest approximate exhibit of the current expenses of a year that can be made by a city using these accounts. To adjust a statement of these warrants or order payments with the treasurer's statement of cash on hand, there are introduced the lines numbered 26 c and 40 h, for reporting the amount of such warrants that were paid during the year but issued during the preceding year, and the amount of those that were issued during the current year but not paid, respectively. Reports for cities having revenue accounts. — In the case of schools with so-called "revenue accounts," the basis of expense statements are the bills or claims that are audited, including audited pay rolls and statements of accrued interest, but not including orders for undelivered merchandise. The treasurer's statement of cash on hand at the close and beginning of the year is adjusted to the statement of these audited bills or claims substantially as in the case above mentioned — by reporting on the lines 26 c and 40 & the amount of these audited claims and bills that were paid during the year but allowed the previous year, and the amounts of bills audited or allowed during the current year but not paid. Reports for cities with special supply accounts. — A further device is introduced to allow adjustment with the accounts of the more progressive cities which have a supply department and charge the value of supplies to branches of the service only when drawn by requisition for such supplies. These cities will keep a ledger account with supplies, and that account will be debited with all supplies purchased. The same account will be credited and the proper expense or outlay account will be debited with the value of all supplies given out on requisition. The pay- ments and the requisition receipts and the balances of this account should be shown in a special subdivision of the report. (See " Report of special accounts," p. 27.) Reporting data in greater detail. — School systems which wish to adopt the scheme of uniform reporting and at the same time wish to 14 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. report in greater detail than is indicated by the preceding "standard form," will find it easy to do so. They can subdivide any of the items which by this form would be reported on a single line and report them on two or more lines. In so doing, they should give the new and detailed statement the same relative position in the report that is assigned the combined data by the "standard form" — e. g., expenses of school election and of school census may be reported on separate lines, but must be given the relative position under "general administrative expenses " held by line I b. If on the other hand the system incurs expenses for only one of several items that in this scheme are included on a single line, a specific designation should take the place of the more general designation here used. Thus, if expense is incurred for a "censfts," but not for "school elections," the title "school census" should be substituted for the wording here given after i b. Reporting data in less detail. — On the other hand, if a school sys- tem incurs no expenses corresponding to certain titles and lines of this scheme, such lines must be omitted in its report. Further, a more con- densed form of report may be made by consolidating any two or more consecutive and allied lines and giving them a significant title. In so doing, the line for the condensed report should be given the relative position of the lines combined and displaced. Thus, after the title of line I may be reported all amounts that, in this "standard form," are dis- tributed to lines i a to i h, inclusive. Net payments and receipts only to be reported. — To be compa- rable, such fiscal reports must always give "net" payments and receipts: i. e., they must always show the total amounts paid for the different objects, less any amounts paid in error and later corrected by refund receipts; also the total amounts received from all sources, less any amounts received in error and later corrected by refund payments. The amounts to be reported in accordance with the accompanying scheme are therefore always "net," and amounts paid and received in error and later corrected by refund receipts and payments are to be reported on lines 28 a and 43 a, respectively, and the amounts paid or received in correc- tion of error are to be reported on lines 28 6 and 43 b. General classification of payments. — Payments are arranged under four general divisions: (i) Expenses, (2) outlays, (3) interest and debt, and (4) miscellaneous objects. Under payments for expenses are included all payments for meeting the current costs of conducting the school sys- tem; under payments for otdlays are included all payments for meeting the costs of acquiring and constructing the permanent school properties and their equipment ; under payments of interest and on debt account are included the payments for the liquidation of all outstanding debt obliga- tions, including warrants and audits, all payments for interest, and all transfer payments to sinking funds. All other payments are included under miscellaneous payments. Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 15 EXPENSES or GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. Under this general title are included all expenses of general control — the expenses that in commercial undertakings are designated as "over- head charges." These expenses are subdivided into two general groups numbered i and 2. In group i are included the expenses of conducting the school system as a business concern; and in group 2, those incurred in conducting it as an educational "machine." In the large systems these two classes of expenses can be separated in a fairly satisfactory manner, as specified by the several lines in the "standard form." For the smaller cities the data of several lines may be consolidated, as may be necessary, under more descriptive designations. In recording and reporting expenses of administering the school system, consideration should be given to the practical difiEiculties of differentiating costs of administering the system from those of supervising it. Those costs are logically distinct but practically not often differen- tiated. Educational administration has to do with the operation of the system; supervision has to do with the conduct of concrete educational procedure of the school. The line of demarcation between the two classes of expenses must be drawn somewhat arbitrarily on the basis of primacy and predominance of function. Thus the superintendent of schools is and must always be the administrator of the educational machine ; in some of the smaller systems he is also the supervisor in chief ; in both cases his salary can best be assigned wholly to the work of administration on line 2 a, rather than on line 3 a. In small systems where all the pupils are housed in one building or in a very few buildings, and the so-called superintendent acts as principal of the high school or other school and gives a portion of his time to instructing classes, the position should be classed as "school principal" rather than as "superintendent," and the cost of his services be reported as described for line 4 a. Board of education. — Report as expenses of "Board of education and secretary's office" all payments for salaries and expenses of the board of education as such, including salary of the clerk or secretary of the board and the clerical and other expenses of his office. School elections and school census. — Report as expenses of "School elections and school census" all payments for salaries and other expenses of school elections and the school census which are paid from the school treasury or school appropriations. Payments for a special school census, when made from other appropriations, should be reported in the "Sup- plemental statement of payments for educational purposes," page 27. Finance offices and accounts. — Report as expenses of "Finance offices and accounts" only those payments which are made from school funds for the salaries and expenses of such fiscal officers as auditor, treasurer, comptroller, and chamberlain, and the expenses for the assess- ment and collection of taxes if such are met from the school fund. Sepa- rate lines should be given to all the important items of expense called for by the title here used. 1 6 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. General legal services. — Report as expenses for "General legal serv- ices" the salaries and fees of regularly retained attorneys. (Charges for special legal services in connection with acquisition of titles should be reported as "Outlays" after 23. All other payments for special legal services should be reported under i h.) Operation and maintenance of office building. — Under this title report the cost of operating and maintaining any office building owned or leased by the school system for administrative purposes, including for such building the expenses that for other school buildings are reported on lines 15 to 17. Offices in charge of buildings. — On this line report payments for expenses of offices having charge of the construction and maintenance of physical properties — such as superintendent of buildings, school archi- tects, inspector of buildings, superintendent of repairs, schoolhouse com- mission — together with all expenses incident to the operation of such offices, including salaries of clerks, etc. Payments for labor engaged in repairs or in new construction are, in no case, to be charged here. They will be charged respectively to "Maintenance," line 15, and to "Out- lays," lines 23 and 24. Offices in charge of supplies. — On this line report the expenses of superintendent of supplies, business manager, or any other officers whose duties are concerned with the purchase and distribution of supplies, including payments for salaries of clerks and other expenses of such offices. Office of superintendent of schools. — On this line report payments for salaries and expenses of the superintendent of schools and subordinate administrative officers, board of superintendents, assistant superintend- ent, board of examiners, supervisor of substitutes, etc., unless the functions are specifically supervisory. Enforcement of compulsory education and truancy laws. — On this line report salaries and office expenses of truant officers and police officers detailed as truant officers, if paid out of school funds, in the enforcement of compulsory attendance and truancy laws. (Payments for the costs of truant and parental schools must not be entered here, but on lines 3 to 22 in column "Schools for special classes of pupils." See later instruc- tions for such schools, page 25.) General promotion of health. — After this title report all payments for general promotion of health that can not be distributed, by other instructions, to the various kinds of schools and educational extensions. Other expenses of general control. — All expenses of a general admin- istrative nature that can not be reported under one of the specific titles of I a to 2 c should be given some descriptive designation and assigned a relative position corresponding to i /j or 2 ci, according as they are pay- ments for business or educational control. Kinds of schools. — Great care should be taken to distribute payments for school expenses in an equitable manner among the different kinds of Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 1 7 schools. This is absolutely necessary, or the reports are worthless as measures of the relative costs of the various activities of school systems. Modern accounting has shown how easily this segregation of costs of conducting business can be secured, and of what great value the resulting accounts and reports are to the intelligent administrator. This distribu- tion, more than any other single factor, will determine the trustworthiness of the school report as an index of the efficiency of school administration. Consideration should be paid to this distribution in the smallest school systems which have only the three kinds of schools specified in the "standard form." It becomes doubly necessary in the case of school systems maintaining all the kinds of schools and educational extensions hereinbefore mentioned. EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION. Report on lines 3 to 9 all payments for salaries and incidental expenses of those employed in giving instruction, including supervisors and teach- ers, and for the materials used in instruction. Supervision. — On lines 3 a and 3 h report salaries and expenses of supervisors of grades of instruction in the elementary schools (kinder garten, primary, intermediate, or grammar); and of supervisors of "special subjects" (music, drawing, physical training, etc.). Whenever possible, the costs of supervision of special subjects should be distributed to the several kinds of schools (elementary, secondary, night, etc.) upon the basis of time devoted to each kind. For example, if the super- visor of music, with a salary of $2,000, gives three-fourths of his time to the elementary and one-fourth to the secondary school, the appor- tionment is $1,500 for the elementary schools and $500 for the secondary. In some cities the cost of this kind of supervision is prorated according to the number of teachers in the several kinds of schools. This method is probably as desirable as the time method suggested above. If the supervisor is also a teacher — e. g., teaching music classes in the high school — make a proportionate deduction from the charge for super- vision on the basis of time spent and the relative cost of the two functions, and charge the balance to "teaching" on line 5. On lines 4 a and b report salaries and expenses of the principals of schools or groups of schools. Where the principal is also a teacher, the payments for salary should be distributed to the two functions upon the basis of time devoted to each, and the relative cost of the two functions. In certain cases the teaching principal's salary is specifically distributed in the appropriation; thus in the District of Columbia the eighth-grade teacher, who is a building principal, receives a specific salary as eighth- grade teacher and an additional amount for supervision — a specified per capita sum for each teacher supervised. Any such specific distribution must be followed in the formal report. 1 8 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. Free textbooks. — On this line report payments, or requisition charges from storehouse, for textbooks that are furnished free to pupils. Costs of library books should be reported on line 8 b. Payments for text- books to be resold to pupils should be reported on line 30 a. Stationery and other supplies used in instruction. — Report on this line all payments, or requisition charges from storehouse, for mate- rials used in instruction (exclusive of textbooks), such as maps, charts, globes, pencils, erasers, rulers, chalk, etc.; wood, coal, metal, tools, etc., used in art and manual training; cloth, scissors, cooking supplies, etc., used in domestic science; typewriters and other supplies used for instruc- tion in commercial branches; laboratory apparatus and supplies, including chemicals and biological material; gas, electricity, and fuel for cooking, manual training, etc.; and teachers' desk books, dictionaries for class- rooms, etc., together with express and cartage charges on supplies. As much detail may be introduced in the report as local authorities may desire. The distinction between supplies used in instruction (including appa- ratus) and "equipment" is somewhat arbitrary. The line is here drawn in accordance with the practice in vogue in cities with the best-developed systems of school accounting. It is largely a matter of size and perma- nence. All material destroyed in the using and materials and apparatus of relatively short life are classed as "supplies." (See instructions for "Equipment," lines 24 a and b.) Libraries. ^Report all expenses for school libraries on lines 8 a, b, and c, separating the payments as called for by the wording of the lines, and distributing the payments according to the kinds of schools. Expenses met from school funds for libraries to be used mainly by the general public and not by pupils should be reported in the column " Educational extensions." (See also further instructions relating to educational extensions, page 25.) Other expenses of instruction. — Report on this line all payments for other expenses incident to instruction, including graduation expenses, such as hall rent, diplomas, etc., and flags for school buildings, etc. EXPENSES OF OPERATION OF SCHOOL PLANT. Under this general head should be grouped the expenses incident to the operation of the physical plant. Great pains should be taken to secure an equitable apportionment of the payments included under this general head to the several kinds of schools. Wages of janitors and other employees. — Report on this line the wages of janitors, engineers, charwomen, etc., and all other labor charges incident to the operation and care of school buildings other than buildings used for administrative purposes. Janitor's supplies. — Include after "Janitor's supplies" all payments for tools, toilet articles, towels, oil, disinfectants, etc. Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 19 Fuel. — On this line report payments for fuel, including freight, cartage, and weighing. When the schools have accurate accounts with supplies, the account should show only the fuel consumed during the fiscal period, and all supplies on hand at the beginning and close of the year should be given in a statement of the supply account. (See "Report of special accounts," p. 27.) Water. — On this line report all payments for water used by the schools. If the water is supplied by a city department without any formal charge for the same, report on this line an estimate of the value and balance this entry by a counter entry after 32 6. Light and power. — The same general instructions should be fol- lowed in reporting payments for light and power as are given above for water. Other expenses of operation of school plant. — Expenses for the operation of the school plant that can not be readily reported under the titles given for lines 10 to 13 should be reported in such detail as necessary in the position shown by line 14. EXPENSES OF MAINTENANCE OF SCHOOL PLANT. Expenses charged under this general head are theoretical offsets to depreciation of property. They include the costs of materials and labor expended in the upkeep of the plant ; also the cost of insurance. Repair of buildings and upkeep of grounds. — On this line report payments for labor and materials incident to keeping the buildings and grounds in normal condition; also report costs of minor improvements, such as those incident to the repair of buildings and heating plant, including painting, glazing, plumbing, etc., when such costs are charged to contingent funds. Do not charge to this account the cost of large improvements, such as grading for new walks, extensions, or buildings, etc. The cost of such improvements should be charged to outlays. Repair and replacement of equipment. — "Equipment" is distin- guished from "Supplies and apparatus" by relative size, fixity, and permanence. (See instructions for line 7, above.) Report here pay- ments for repairing or replacing of furniture, clocks, pianos, window shades, laboratory apparatus, switchboards, gas and electric fixtures, etc. Insurance. — Report on line "Insurance" all premiums paid to insur- ance companies and all amounts transferred to special funds devised for self -insurance. If the money so reported is for self -insurance, the report should specifically state that fact. MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES, Under this head should be included such exceptional costs of conduct- ing school systems as those for pensions, rent, and transportation of pupils, and such exceptional costs for education as payments to private 20 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. schools and institutions and to schools and institutions of other civil divisions. Such costs should be distributed according to the grade of the school for which the expenses are incurred and the character of the expense, as indicated by the wording of the lines i8 to 22. (See also instructions for "Schools for special classes of pupils," page 25.) Pensions. — Report on this line only payments to beneficiaries. Payments to public trust funds out of which pensions may be paid should be reported not on line 20 but on line 29. PAYMENTS FOR OUTLAYS. Under "Outlays" are to be reported payments for land, new buildings, and new equipment (not replacements), and for additions to buildings or extensive alterations that materially change the character of the buildings. Payments for such extensive alterations as the installation of a new heating plant should be charged to outlay. If a given school system has a special administration building, or has properties used exclusively for investment purposes, any payments for their acquisition, construction, or enlargement should be reported in the first and fifth columns, respectively, of the form here suggested; if it has no outlays for either of these two classes of properties, the form for reporting outlays should be identical with that for reporting expenses. Land. — Under this title report with payments for land all costs of acquiring title, all costs of original grading and improvements of the ground, and all legal charges incident to the acquisition of the same. New buildings. — - Include as part of the cost of new buildings payments for architects' fees, advertising for contracts, payments on contracts for construction, for installation of plumbing and heating plant, and all similar payments. Equipment of buildings. — (See previous discussion of "Equipment.") Report after the title given on line 24 a payments for such original equip- ment as new desks, chairs, shades, pianos, cases, etc., and fixtures not included in contracts for construction, together with the express, freight, and drayage charges on all original equipment of new buildings. After the title given on line 24 h, report all similar payments for equipment of old buildings, exclusive of payments for replacing equipment, which should be reported on line 156. PAYMENTS OF INTEREST AND ON DEBT ACCOUNT. Interest. — Systems with no accounts other than those with cash pay- ments and receipts should report as their interest charge the amounts actually paid during the year for interest; systems keeping account of accruals should report the amount of interest accruals. To make this latter class of reports comparable with those of the majority of cities, which are on the cash basis, the amount of interest accrued (line 25) but Standard Form for School Financial Statistics, 2 1 not paid during the year should be reported on line 40 h; and the amounts paid during the year which had accrued in preceding years should be reported after 26 c. Where short-term loans are discounted in advance, the amount of discount from the face of the original loan should be charged as interest after 25, and the amount reported after 40 a should be the face of the obligation at maturity. Redemption of debt obligations. — Report amounts paid for the redemption of debt obligations as called for by lines 26 a, b, and c, noting what has previously been said concerning the method of reporting pay- ments for warrants and audited claims of preceding years ; and especially noting what has been said concerning interest reports in the case of cities keeping accounts on the accrual basis. I^or these cities there should be reported after 26 c all audited bills and pay rolls of previous years that have been paid during the current year. On line 26 d report all repayments of amounts received as deposits or in other private trust transactions. MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS, Transfer payments to other funds. — Payments to other funds, such as sinking funds for the amortization of debts, trust funds for the pay- ment of pensions, and payments to other funds, are here called "Trans- fer payments." Payments in error and refunds. — To secure statements of net costs of government and net revenue receipts, all reports of outlays and reve- nues should be given net, as already directed. Amounts paid in error and later refunded should be reported after 28 a; and amounts paid as refunds to correct erroneous receipts should be reported after 286. Balances. — All balances of cash on hand at the close of the year should be reported on line 3 1 a; unexpended or uncanceled appropriation credits, on line 316. INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPORTING RECEIPTS. Explanations and definitions. — The form of report here presented calls for the separation of the receipts of money or appropriation credits placed at the disposal of a city school into three general divisions or classes: (i) Those derived from revenue, (2) those obtained from loans of various kinds, or "debt service," and (3) receipts from other sources. Revenue receipts are those obtained directly by the school district or school department from revenues or appropriation credits placed at the disposal of a city school department by the municipality and obtained by it from revenues. Under the term revenues, as here used, the Bureau of the Census includes all moneys or money's worth provided or obtained by the government for meeting its expenses, interest, and outlays, which are derived from the following sources: (i) From the exercise of the gov- ernmental powers of taxation and police control; (2) from the receipt of donations, gifts, grants, and subventions for governmental uses; (3) from the performance of services for compensation and the furnishing of mate- 22 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. rial for valuable considerations; and (4) from the operation or manage- ment of the productive enterprises, investments, and properties of the government. Receipts on account of debt include all amounts of cash received by or for the school from the sale of bonds, or from the issue of short -time debt obligations, all outstanding warrants or audits unpaid at the close of the year, and all transfers from sinking funds for the liquidation of debt or payment of interest. Miscellaneous nonrevenue receipts include all receipts of money from sources other than revenue, or on account of debt service as above described. REVENUE RECEIPTS. In reporting revenue receipts observe the following instructions far the individual inquiries: Appropriations from city treasury. — This appHes only to schools that are departments of city governments. Report here all amounts of cash or credit received in accordance with the terms of the appropriation ordinance or budget. In the great majority of city school departments the appropriations are credits and not cash transfers. Taxes and licenses. — Receipts from taxes and licenses are to be reported as a rule only by independent school districts, since the corre- sponding receipts of school departments of cities and villages are dis- tributed by appropriations included in the budget. They should be reported on line 32. Independent school districts receiving taxes and fines should report them on appropriate lines after the titles given, so far as these are fully descriptive ; but receipts from such special property or business taxes as those known as "bank taxes," "corporation taxes," etc., should be reported on lines 33 6 to 33 (i under the designations given them by state laws or local customs. Subventions, grants, and gifts. — The terms "subventions" and "grants" are used here for all moneys given to one civil division (as a school district or city) by another for a specific purpose, and disbursed by the district or other receiving governmental agency. On the lines 35 a, b, and c should be reported all moneys so received by cities or independent districts from the state, county, or other civil divisions for the support of schools. All amounts received from private individuals or corporations for the use of schools, or for creating funds whose income is to be used for school purposes, should be reported on line 36. Rent, interest, etc. — After 37 a report all amounts received as rents for any buildings belonging to the schools and from the ground rent of any land held by the school as an investment. On Hne 37 b report all amounts received as interest on school moneys deposited in banks, and all amounts received as income from securities held as investments but not belonging to trust funds. When a city or school district receives rent or interest from investments of trust funds, the amounts of such interest and rent should be shown separately in the report. Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 23 Other revenue receipts. — Among the revenue receipts to be reported by some cities but not by all are the following : Amounts received from other civil divisions as compensation for the education of particular pupils ; amounts received as compensation or reimbursement for amounts expended in the transportation of individual pupils, whether such amounts were received from private individuals or other civil divisions; amounts received from the incidental sales of minor school supplies to teachers and pupils; amounts collected as fines or for damages by pupils to the free textbooks and other books or furniture (amounts received from the sale of textbooks and supplies furnished pupils as a business enterprise are not revenue and should be reported after line 45 a) ; amounts received for admission fees to public entertainments; and all other amounts received incident to some service rendered or favor granted to individ- uals. Among the items to be so reported are amounts received as license fees for newsboys, when such licenses are issued by the school authorities, and receipts from such fees become a part of the school revenues. All amounts here mentioned should be reported under some descriptive title. RECEIPTS ON DEBT ACCOUNT. On lines 39 and 40 should be reported the actual amounts of cash derived from the sale of bonds, or the negotiation of other debt obliga- tions that pass through the treasury of an independent district. Pre- miums and accrued interest received on bond sales that go direct to a sinking fund, and discounts on such sales that are made from such fund, should not be recorded on the lines mentioned, since they appear in the accounts of the fund referred to. The school authorities should report only the amounts received from the sources mentioned that are at their disposal. When short-term obligations are issued in the form of notes discounted at the bank, the report should show after 40 a the face value of the obligation issued, and the amount of discount allowed should be shown as a counter entry after line 25. In reporting amounts received from short-term obligations, use, in local reports, the local designation of such loans, such as "temporary loans," "revenue loans," " anticipation tax warrants," etc. On line 40 h report all amounts of warrants issued or audits recorded by independent school districts during the year but not paid at the close of the year, and on line 40 c all amounts received on deposit to guarantee contracts or on other private trust accounts. No use should be made of line 40 &, or of the lines previously mentioned in this para- graph, by schools operated as departments of a city government. The only line under this general title that they would use is that numbered 41 a, and on that line should be stated the net amount of credit for the acquisition of permanent improvements and equipment that has been placed at the dis- posal of the department as the result of bond sales. Such departments do not take any account of temporary loans or outstanding warrants or orders. On line 41 & independent school districts will report moneys received by 24 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. them by transfer from the sinking fund for the redemption of bonds or the payment of interest. If the sinking fund makes disbursements of its money direct for these purposes, no amounts should be reported on this line. MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. Most lines imder this head are self-explanatory of the receipts assigned to them. Lines 42 a, 6, and d are provided for reporting specified receipts on what in private business is called "capital account," and line 42 c for reporting sales balanced by entries in "expense accounts." Line 45 a is for the use of those school systems that sell schoolbooks to pupils at cost. Receipts from such sales are to be reported on this line, and the pay- ment for such books on line 30 a. Lines 43 a and b are arranged to record receipts of money in error and for correction of specified erroneous payments, and lines 45 c and d are for any other unspecified nonrevenue receipts. All such receipts should be recorded under titles fully descrip- tive of the source from which received. Transfers from permanent funds. — If a city or school district has trust or other funds with investments in the form of real property or securities, whose income is used for the payment of school pensions, school prizes, or for meeting other school expenses, and the moneys disbursed from those funds or any portion of the same pass through the general treasury of the school by transfer from the funds, the amount so received for disbursement should be reported after line 44; but on the other hand, if moneys derived from trust funds do not pass through the general school treasury, no use should be made of this line, and all pay- ments from the fund for school expenses should appear in the "supple- mentary statements of payments for educational purposes." (See page 25.) Balances at beginning of year. — All balances of cash on hand at the beginning of the year should be reported on line 46 a, and unexpended or uncanceled appropriation credits of prior years, on line 46 b. ADAPTATIONS OF STANDARD FORM TO NEEDS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS. Condensed form of reports. — A condensed form for uniform reports may readily be arranged by including in the report after any given num- bered title all amounts that in the "standard form" are subdivided and designated by small letters. Thus report after title of line i all amounts that by the preceding instructions are distributed to lines i ato 1 h. The same rule applies to all other titles. Subdivisions of title. — When a large school system desires to report any of its payments or receipts in greater detail than is indicated by the numbered and lettered titles of the standard form, it can subdivide the data that by these instructions should be reported after any specified title and report the same after two or more new descriptive titles. In all cases of such subdivision the new title should be given the same relative position as that of the displaced title. Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 25 Systems with many kinds of schools. — When a school system has more kinds of schools than the three mentioned in the "standard form," the expenses and outlays of the additional kinds should be reported in parallel columns, substantially as shown in the following form : KIND OF SCHOOI, AND EDUCATIONAI, EXTENSION. OBJECT OP Day. Night. Play- grounds Total of all schools. PAYMENT. Ele- men- tary. Sec- ond- ary. Nor- mal. Col- le- giate. School for the blmd. Tex- tile. Total. Ele- men- tary. Sec- ond- ary. Total. $.... $ $.... $.... S $.... $ $.... $ $ $ $ Every school system should report under appropriate titles all the kinds of schools, including those for special classes, and "educational extensions" which it supports. A separate column should be assigned to each. In the exhibit above, "School for the blind" serves as typical of " schools for special classes of pupils;" "Textile," as typical of "trade or vocational schools;" "Playgrounds," as typical of "educational ex- tensions." Thus all day schools for special classes of pupils — blind, deaf, feeble-minded, backward, delinquent, etc. — would each be given a sep- arate column in position corresponding to "School for the blind" in the foregoing exhibit; similarly, all day "trade" or "vocational" schools a separate column in position corresponding to "Textile;" and all " educational extensions "^ — e. g., playgrounds, vacation schools, lectures, recreation centers, etc. — a separate column in position corresponding to "Playgrounds." Further, all schools for special pupils, if conducted in day sessions only, without board or other accessories of an institution, would fall under the generic title " Day ; " but if conducted as institutions, furnishing board and lodging, they should be assigned a position between ' ' Night schools ' ' and ' ' Playgrounds. ' ' Systems with more than one type of secondary school. — School systems maintaining in separate buildings several types of secondary schools — "academic," "business "or "commercial;" "technical," "man- ual training," or " mechanic arts " — should assign a separate column to each type, as indicated in the following exhibit. In such cases a full report of receipts and payments must be made for each type of school. SECONDARY. Academic. Business. Manual training. AU other. Total secondary day schools. $ $ $ $ $ 26 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. Systems with instruction departmentalized. — Where it is desired to segregate the costs of special forms of instruction, this may be done by employing a modification of the device just exhibited. Two illustra- tions follow: (i) For a system in which it is desired to segregate the costs of "Kindergarten" and such special subjects as "Manual training," "Domestic science," etc., from the general costs of elementary schools; (2) for a system in which there is only one general type of high school in which instruction is departmentalized. ELEMENTARY. Expenses other than for kindergarten, manual training, and domestic science. Kindergarten instruction. Manual training instruction. Domestic science instruction. All expenses of elementary day schools. S $ $ $ $ SECONDARY. Expenses other than for mechanics art and business instruction. ■Mechanics art Business instruction. instruction. All expenses of secondary day schools. S s s s Additional numbered and lettered titles. — School systems sup- porting a variety of specialized schools, especially those that provide board and lodging, will need other titles in addition to those specified by number and letter in the " standard form." It is only necessary that such additional titles be assigned to their proper places in this scheme. Thus all expenses for clothes, board, etc., of parental and other schools of an institutional nature should be given after descriptive titles under the subdivision of "Expenses of operation of school plant." REPORTS OF FUND TRANSACTIONS. Most independent school districts have sinking funds; many of them have public trust funds for teachers' pensions and other specified purposes; some of them have other permanent funds for different purposes. Many cities with school systems conducted as departments of the city govern- ment have similar funds which are so intimately related to the manage- ment of the schools that no exhibit of receipts or expenses for schools can be complete without reports of these special funds. Whenever such funds are maintained in connection with a school system, its report of trans- actions given in accordance with the foregoing "standard form" should be immediately followed by condensed, but elucidating, reports of the receipts and payments of these special funds. These reports of fund Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. 2 7 transactions should be so arranged as to show amounts transferred to and received from the general treasury and reported in the main report. These receipts and payments in all cases should be the converse of the corresponding payments and receipts shown in the main report which pre- cedes. F'urther, these fund reports, in their statements of payments and receipts, should employ the same classification and be arranged in the same general form as the principal report with special exhibits of the receipts from the sales of investments and payments for the purchase of the same. REPORTS OF SPECIAL ACCOUNTS. School systems maintaining a supply department and purchasing sup- plies for the system as a whole and charging the costs of such supplies to branches of the work only as they are drawn on requisition, will of course have special ledger accounts of such supplies. Such accounts will at all times when balanced show: (i) The amount of supplies on hand at the beginning of the year; (2) the amount provided between that time and the balancing of the account; (3) the amount drawn out upon requisition prior to the balancing of accounts; and (4) the amount on hand at the last date of balancing. If the schools have a complete system of asset accounts arranged with liability accounts for preparing and presenting a balance sheet, the supply balances would appear in the balance-sheet statement ; there will be no need in such cases of a special exhibit of the supply transactions in the report. School systems not preparing a balance-sheet statement of all assets and liabilities, but maintaining a careful account with supplies, may find it advantageous to present a special report of the supply account prepared along the same lines as that of the "reports of fund transactions." SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. In many of our American cities some payments for the objects men- tioned in the list of school expenses and outlays given in the "standard form" are met from appropriations other than those for the schools, or from funds not under the control of the schools. Wide-awake school authorities, anxious that school reports shall present all the facts needed to make them comparable with the reports of other cities, should in such cases prepare what is here called a "supplemental statement of payments for educational purposes." This should consist of an exhibit, or series of exhibits, of the amounts paid from each and all of the appropriations or funds other than the schools proper, which are made for any of the objects classified in the "standard form" as "Expenses and outlays for educational purposes." Among the expenses that may need to be so reported are the salaries of truant and health officers when paid out of other appropriations and detailed to school service. 28 Standard Form for School Financial Statistics. STANDARD FORM FOR SUMMARIZING VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTIES. Schools should have records of the cost and current value of all their properties. They should keep accounts, therefore, with every parcel of land owned, and with every building owned and used for school pur- poses. These values should be summarized along standard and uniform lines by giving for every kind of school, of which it makes a separate mention in its report of expense and outlay, the data indicated in the following form : KIND OF SCHOOL. Total value of school property. Value of land. Value of buildings. Value of equipment. $ $ $ $ STATEMENT OF SCHOOL ASSETS AND LIABILITIES. Independent school districts, in addition to preparing summaries of the value of their school properties as indicated above, should make formal report of all their assets and liabilities, including with the assets the value of the school properties, securities, and other properties held as investments, amount of revenues levied but not collected, and also the amount of cash and supplies on hand. No suggestion is here made for such summaries, since no similar exhibit can be prepared for the great majority of school systems that are operated as city departments. For such systems the liabilities of the cities for their schools can not readily be differentiated from their other liabiHties. If a considerable number of such summaries can be collected and compared, a common basis may be reached inductively. Fiscal year and school year. — School reports are most, useful when they are statistics of what is known as the school year — the year that closes with the beginning of the summer vacation. Nearly all school reports of attendance are for this school year; but many cities and school districts are required by their charters or state laws to make financial reports for a fiscal period which is not identical with this school year. It is recommended that such cities and school districts, in addition to their financial reports for their fiscal year, make reports showing their financial transactions for a period identical with their school year. Such reports, if generally prepared, would make school statistics strictly com- parable, and thus of greater value than at present. o LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 314 476 3