Fiscal Autonomy Committee
   The purpose of the Fiscal Autonomy Committee is to negotiate fiscal autonomy conditions for Pilot Schools for one fiscal year in advance.  The group meets three to four times throughout the spring and fall of each year, and pursues committee work in the interim.  Representatives include Pilot School principals and assistant principals; BPS staff from the Budget and Unified Student Services Offices; and CCE’s Pilot Schools Network co-directors and executive director. 
   In the early years of Pilot Schools, each school negotiated its own budget with the district.  These separate negotiations resulted in disparate budgets across Pilot Schools.  With assistance from CCE, collaboration with the BPS Budget Office, and support from the Superintendent, the Fiscal Autonomy Committee was formed in 1997 to improve the budget process and seek additional fiscal autonomy for Pilot Schools.  The committee aimed to create a unified, consistent Pilot Schools model of budget autonomy that could eventually be applied to all other schools in the district. 
   With the support and assistance of the Fiscal Autonomy Committee, the budget office divided the BPS budget into two categories – direct school costs and central office costs.  Each of these categories was then itemized and per pupil amounts for each item were calculated.  The committee decided that Pilot Schools would receive a consistent lump sum per pupil amount of all direct school costs by grade level rather than a K-12 average, as it was the regular schools within respective grade levels to which Pilot Schools were to be compared.  In addition, the committee developed a consistent per pupil amount for roll-out costs – for example as new schools added grades and/or had significant planned enrollment jumps – to allow for furniture, equipment, textbook, and materials acquisitions as students were added.
   The committee then sought ways to create greater fiscal autonomy for Pilot Schools by looking at central district costs. After reviewing fiscal autonomy practices in other urban districts in the United States and Canada, the committee examined whether any central costs could become discretionary for Pilot Schools.  Committee members adopted the principle that if a central office service was non-essential, the Pilot School should have discretion over whether it purchased the service from the district.  If the service was not purchased, the per pupil amount for that service would be added to the school's lump sum per pupil budget. 
   Every central line item was reviewed to identify discretionary services.  These services total approximately $500 per pupil, providing Pilot Schools with significant additional budget flexibility and program support.  For example, a school with an enrollment of 400 students would potentially gain an additional $200,000 in funds to strengthen its instructional program if it chose not to purchase any discretionary central services from the BPS central office.  In general, Pilot Schools do not purchase these services, and therefore the funds are added to each school’s lump sum per pupil budget. 
   As a result of this budget autonomy, while Pilot Schools spend a similar percentage of their total district-funded budget on staffing as regular BPS schools, they are able to spend more total dollars on staffing because they have additional discretionary funds added to their budgets.  This added amount from discretionary funds is one reason why Pilot Schools have lower student:teacher ratios than regular BPS schools.  Pilot Schools find creative ways to cover some of the line item services that they do not purchase, such as using the expertise of teaching staff to cover athletics, student support, and electives.
   Another important committee decision involved shifting to a functional approach of determining central office costs.  As the BPS budget office director outlined:

Committee on Special Education Issues
  The Pilot Schools Network Committee on Special Education Issues has focused on working with the BPS Office of Unified Student Services on the assignment of students with disabilities served in substantially separate classroom placements. The Pilot committee has worked to ensure that the assignment process is thoughtful, organized, and equitable.
  Through work with the district, particularly the Unified Student Services and Budget Offices, the committee developed a plan for serving these students with the Pilot Schools Network Special Education Principles at the forefront. In a January 2003 memorandum to the BPS superintendent and BPS offices, the Network’s Executive Committee expressed their support of the decision to more equitably distribute students with the 502.4 prototype into the least restrictive environment across BPS. Simultaneously, they stated that fundamental to the success of Pilot Schools is the autonomy to create learning environments that best meet students’ needs for special education services in a variety of placements.
  The committee worked to ensure that the district did not infringe upon Pilot School autonomy, and that Pilot Schools had a voice in the decision-making process about their schools and students. Furthermore, the committee worked with BPS on a plan for increasing the capacity of Pilot Schools to serve students with substantially separate special education needs, including a phase-in timeline, resulting in the district adopting a three-year plan for enrolling a representative number of students in every Pilot School.
  The committee also recommended funding for staff professional development in order to better serve the students. As a result, the district provides start-up costs of $1,500 for each student placed in the schools who is 502.4 prototype. Pilot Schools were able to use these funds in any way they determined that assisted in establishing a strong educational program for students with moderate to severe special education needs. Since the funds were limited, one-time start-up funds, it was recommended that they be used mainly for professional development and materials.
   Pilot Schools were encouraged to pool start-up funds to provide staff professional development, particularly for dual special education certification for faculty. As a result, CCE developed a partnership with Northeastern University and other higher education institutions to offer this training to interested Pilot School staff.