Dade County School DistrictBudget & Spending
Trenton, Dade County, Georgia NCES 1301590
- Total revenue · FY2024
- $33.2M $33,212,000
- Students enrolled
- 2,043
- Revenue per pupil
- $16,256
- Local share per pupil
- $7,017 54th percentile in GA
Transparency grade C, provisional
Under reviewProvisional grade
Every district starts at a provisional C until its records have been reviewed. This is a starting point, not a finding.
If you work for this district, you can shorten the wait by sending us links to the records you already publish.
NCES F-33 · FY2024
Where the money goes
Operating and capital spending from the federal expenditure survey, rolled up by function.
Aggregate categories only: no individual payees or contracts are shown.
- Instruction
- $17.2M 55.9% of spending
- Administration
- $1.9M 6.1% of spending
- Per pupil
- $15,075 All functions
- Instruction 55.9%
- Capital Outlay 9.9%
- Student Transportation 6.8%
- Food Services 5.9%
- Student Support Services 5.6%
- Operations & Maintenance 5.5%
- General Administration 4.3%
- Business & Central Services 3.4%
- School Administration 1.8%
- Instructional Staff Support 0.8%
- Other Support Services 0.1%
- Other Programs 0.1%
View the numbers as a table
| Function | Amount | Per pupil | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instruction | $17,205,000 | $8,421 | 55.9% |
| Capital Outlay | $3,046,000 | $1,491 | 9.9% |
| Student Transportation | $2,106,000 | $1,031 | 6.8% |
| Food Services | $1,807,000 | $884 | 5.9% |
| Student Support Services | $1,720,000 | $842 | 5.6% |
| Operations & Maintenance | $1,689,000 | $827 | 5.5% |
| General Administration | $1,338,000 | $655 | 4.3% |
| Business & Central Services | $1,044,000 | $511 | 3.4% |
| School Administration | $549,000 | $269 | 1.8% |
| Instructional Staff Support | $236,000 | $116 | 0.8% |
| Other Support Services | $32,000 | $16 | 0.1% |
| Other Programs | $26,000 | $13 | 0.1% |
| Total | $30,798,000 | $15,075 | 100% |
NCES F-33 · FY2005–FY2024
How this has changed
Summary Four points on FY2005 to FY2024
- Operating balance and scale In FY2024 the district reported $33.2M in revenue against $27.8M in current operating spending. It took in $5.5M more than it spent on operations, a margin of 16.4% of revenue. A further $3.0M went to capital outlay, 9.9% of total spending, which is typically financed by borrowing rather than out of revenue. This compares revenue with operating cost only; it is not a fund balance and not an audited result.
- Inflation and real growth Consumer prices rose +60.6% between FY2005 and FY2024. Revenue rose +47.2% and operating spending +43.6% in nominal terms. Revenue trailed inflation, losing +8.4% in purchasing power. Operating spending trailed inflation, losing +10.6% in purchasing power.
- Enrollment and per-pupil cost Enrollment fell by 599 students, -22.7%. Operating spending per student went from $7,314 to $13,584, +85.7% nominal and +15.6% after inflation.
- Structural takeaway Revenue grew faster than operating spending, by 3.6 percentage points over the period, with real cost per student rising while enrollment fell, so fewer students are carrying a larger real cost base. These figures describe cost, not performance: the F-33 does not say what a district was funded to do, and this site scores what a district publishes rather than how it spends.
Generated from the figures in the table below, not written by hand and not written by a model. Change the years and it recalculates.
| Measure | FY2005 | FY2024 | Change | Nominal % | Real % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $22,566,000 | $33,212,000 | +$10,646,000 | +47.2% | -8.4% |
| Total expenditure | $24,531,000 | $30,833,000 | +$6,302,000 | +25.7% | -21.7% |
| Revenue per pupil | $8,541 | $16,256 | +$7,715 | +90.3% | +18.5% |
| Students enrolled | 2,642 | 2,043 | -599 | -22.7% | — |
Percent change from each measure's FY2005 level. Dollar figures are nominal as filed; the real column removes inflation using CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, annual average (BLS). The dashed line is that same inflation curve, so a dollar line above it gained purchasing power and one below it lost. It does not apply to enrollment. Hover any point for the underlying number.
100-point rubric
What Dade County School District needs for an A
-
Public check register
14 ptsEvery disbursement published with payee category, date, amount, and fund, updated at least quarterly.
A check register records where money actually went, rather than where it was budgeted to go.
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Annual financial audit
6 ptsA current Annual Comprehensive Financial Report with the independent auditor opinion attached.
A financial audit confirms the statements are accurately presented. Most states require one, so it is a floor rather than a distinction.
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Performance or efficiency audit
5 ptsAn independent review of whether spending achieved its stated purpose, published within the last three years.
A financial audit asks whether the numbers are right. A performance audit asks whether the money did what it was meant to do, which is the question a taxpayer is usually asking.
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Line-item adopted budget
11 ptsThe adopted budget broken out by function and object code, not a summary presentation.
Function and object detail is what allows classroom and central office spending to be compared.
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Purchasing card transactions
9 ptsPurchasing and credit card transaction detail with merchant category, date, and amount.
Card purchases sit outside the standard purchase-order process, so separate disclosure is what makes them reviewable.
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Payment history by category
9 ptsCumulative payments grouped by spending category, covering at least one full fiscal year.
Category totals show concentration and recurring commitments that individual payments do not.
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Machine-readable data
9 ptsFinancial data offered as CSV, XLSX, JSON, or an open API rather than scanned images.
A scanned PDF is technically public and practically difficult to analyse. Open formats make review possible.
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Compensation schedule
7 ptsCurrent salary schedules and aggregate administrator compensation bands, including stipends.
Payroll is the largest line in most district budgets, so schedule-level disclosure covers the bulk of spending.
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Bond and capital disclosure
7 ptsBond program spending reported against the specific projects voters approved, with remaining balances.
Bond funds are borrowed against future taxes and authorised for a named project list, so reporting against that list closes the loop.
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Board minutes and agendas
7 ptsMinutes and agenda packets posted together with the financial exhibits that were voted on.
The vote and its attachment are what connect a decision to the money it moved.
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Contracts posted
6 ptsExecuted contracts and amendments above the district bid threshold, posted in full.
A payment shows the amount. The contract shows what was promised in return.
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Direct download, no request
6 ptsCore financial records download directly, with no records request, login, or fee.
Publishing a record and releasing it on request are different levels of disclosure.
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Published records process
4 ptsA public records page naming the responsible officer, the statutory timeline, and any fees.
A documented process tells a requester what to expect before they file.
No items have been checked yet. These fill in as each record is located and verified.