Trends in Schools & School Districts
A Look at Trends in Schools & School District
Revenues & Expenditures
Schools have been among the least likely to report that their revenues are increasing year-over-year. However, according to this year's survey, nearly a quarter (24.4%) said their revenues were higher in 2019 than in 2018. This is up from just 13% who reported higher revenues in 2018. Another 63.4% said their revenues had been unchanged from 2018 to 2019. And 12.2% saw a decrease. (See Figure 50.)
When the original Industry Report Survey was taken in January 2020, slightly more (28.7%) school respondents were anticipating a revenue increase in 2020, compared with 2019. Another 59.7% were expecting no change, and 11.6% were expecting a decrease.
The COVID-19 Update Survey taken in May delivered a much different result, though schools were somewhat less likely to report a heavy impact to their revenues than other respondents. One-quarter of school respondents in May said they expected revenues in 2020 to be either higher than (5%) or the same as (20%) revenues in 2019. Three-quarters (75%) now believe that their revenues in 2020 will be lower. Some 42.5% of school respondents said their revenues in 2020 would be 10 to 20% lower than 2019. Another 17.5% said revenues would be down by 30 to 40%, and 15% said revenues would fall by 50% or more.
From 2018 to 2019, the average operating expenditure reported by school respondents increased by 87%, from an average of $1,310,000 in 2018 to $2,450,000 in 2019.
Pandemic Programs & Activities for Schools
In our COVID-19 Update Survey, taken in early May, we found that school respondents had engaged in various activities as a result of the shutdowns across the country.
Three-quarters (75%) of school respondents said they had engaged in programs to provide educational support to out-of-school children. Another 60% were involved in initiatives to address food insecurity. Some 45% were providing online fitness and wellness programming. Smaller numbers were involved in providing childcare for healthcare and other essential workers (17.5%), outreach and support for out-of-school college students (5%); and converting their existing facilities for healthcare use (2.5%).
Looking forward, in January, school respondents were expecting their average operating cost to grow by 4.5% from 2019 to 2020, to an average of $2,560,000. They further projected a 1.2% decrease from 2020 to 2021, to an average of $2,530,000.
School respondents report that they recover an average of 42.9% of their operating costs via revenue. This is up substantially from 2019, when school respondents recovered an average of 31.4% of their costs via revenues. Some 40.7% of school respondents in 2020 said they cover 30% or less of their operating costs with revenues. Another 10.4% said they earn back between 31 and 50% of their revenues, and 5.2% earn back 51 to 70%. Nearly one-quarter (24.4%) of school respondents said they recover 71% or more of their operating costs via revenues.
School respondents were less likely than non-school respondents to report that they had taken action to reduce their operation costs, though more than three-quarters (76.3%) had done so, and this was up significantly from 2019, when 66.7% of school respondents had acted to reduce expenditures. In 2020, 81.8% of non-school respondents said they had taken such action. By far the most common measure employed by school respondents to reduce expenses was improving energy efficiency. Nearly half (46.7%) of school respondents said they had taken action to improve energy efficiency. Other measures taken by somewhat fewer school respondents include: reducing staff (24.4%); putting construction and renovation plans on hold (24.4%); increasing fees (17.8%); and cutting programs or services (16.3%).
"As a school district our facilities and programs are closed. We are working hard to bring new programs to life virtually but are having a hard time with the number of free programs offered during this time. We are hoping to get back to 'normal' programming for our fall season, but are awaiting a plan for reentry into our buildings." (School/School District)