Economy+of+Scale

The economy of scale concerns the ability to reduce infrastructure costs. Larger school districts have larger student populations at school sites when contrasted with smaller districts. District one has a revenue of $10,529 per pupil contrasted to district two with $10,316. The difference is just over $200 in the favor of the small district. It is a result of State funding district one receives because district they have less than one-third of the taxable value per pupil. When the Total Operational Expenditures per pupil are determined, district two has moved ahead by just less than $300. This swing of about $500 is probably the result of the economy of scale in the favor of district two. District two has 32,326 students spread across 45 schools contrasted with district one with 830 students in 3 schools. The district two schools average 718 students contrasted to district one at 277. District one probably has one school at each level (elementary, middle, and high school) contrasted to district two with probably four high schools, 3 program schools, 8 middle schools, and 30 elementary schools. The high schools could each have 2,500 students with a lead principal and 4 assistant principals and 4 counselors for a ratio of 9:2,500 (1:278). The one high school in district one probably has one principal and one counselor for a ratio of 2:217 (1:109). As a result the larger school district has only 39% of the school administrators compared to district one. The number of teachers, custodians, office staff, and auxiliary staff are also reduced because they can serve more students in the larger schools. One thing that a smaller district can do to level the situation is to share personnel between campuses. Larger districts can share as well and have one Calculus teacher who teaches classes at two different high schools. Having more money because of the economy of scale allows districts to pay their employees more money. District two pays their teachers on average $10,000 more per year contrasted to district one. District two also has a much higher fund balance Which could also be attributed to the economy of scale.