Increased Available Funds

Investing in high performance measures that increase the health of the school can bring monetary returns to your school. District funds come from a variety of State, Federal, and local sources, and every district has a unique blend of sources. In general, a district's funding can be divided into three components:

General Purpose Funds are calculated by multiplying a school's Average Daily Attendance by its Revenue Limit. Revenue limits for the 2000-2001 school year are $4306, $5175, and $4485 for elementary, high school, and unified schools, respectively.

Categorical Aid covers a wide array of programs from special education programs to instructional materials. The application process and funding amounts vary depending on the programs. Depending on the district, categorical aid can range from small amounts to almost one-third of their total budget.

Miscellaneous funds comprise the small remaining amount.

High Performance Schools can increase the amount of school funding by increasing average daily attendance. Recent changes in the funding mechanism that exclude excused absences from the average daily attendance calculation further increase the financial necessity of keeping as many students in class as possible.

Although many studies have correlated characteristics of the indoor environment to changes in student health, behavior, and performance, estimating the degree to which absenteeism might be reduced by a given investment in high performance design is unknown. Ongoing research may eventually provide a methodology, but it is reasonable to assume that investing in high indoor environmental can decrease absenteeism.