Realizing Savings on Extra Duty Pay for Your District Budget

With district budgets at the forefront of conversations, schools nationwide are discussing budgetary plans for the upcoming fiscal year. COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) can impact K-12 budgets in several ways depending on the specific circumstances of a school district and the broader economic conditions. What can you do to help your district’s budget? Putting controls on extra duty spending may be just the key.  

What is COLA? 

A Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is a periodic change made to salaries, wages, pensions, or benefits to account for fluctuations in the cost of living.  

Potential Impacts 

Here’s how COLA can affect K-12 budgets: 

• Increased Personnel Costs: If COLA results in higher living expenses for teachers and other school staff, school districts may need to allocate more funds to cover salary increases. This can strain budgets, especially if there isn’t additional funding available to cover these increased costs. 
• Budget Adjustments: School districts may need to adjust their budgets to accommodate COLA increases, reallocating funds from other areas or seeking additional funding from local governments or through grants. 
• State Funding Impact: In some cases, state funding for education may be tied to COLA or other measures of inflation. If COLA increases, states may adjust their education budgets accordingly, providing more funding to schools to cover the rising costs. 

Extra Duty and Overtime 

Extra duty and overtime, also known as supplemental pay or additional compensation, can also have various impacts on K-12 budgets. Extra duty pay represents additional expenses for schools. For example, when teachers or staff members take on extra work such as coaching sports teams, supervising clubs, or leading extracurricular activities.  

A recent article from Education Week, “How Much Money Do Public Schools Get? The Latest Numbers”, notes that roughly 82% of funding in K-12 funding is dedicated to salaries and benefits for staff. With salaries locked in, this doesn’t leave much wiggle room for other areas of the budget. The team members that make up each district are the most critical asset to setting students up for success. The last thing any district wants to see is lay offs or other vital services cut. 

In an independent budget study of districts of various sizes and locations, the average spending on extra duty is roughly 2.5% of a district budget (see below). Having control on extra duty spending, which can be a significant cost, can be a huge help. Especially when considering that other areas of the budget like salaries are locked in. Adding controls to extra duty is one way to help save money in your district’s financial plan. A post titled “Monitoring Extra-Duty Pay”, highlights how important it is to track spending, especially extra duty, to set your district up for success ahead of each fiscal year.  

It is clear that managing extra duty responsibilities can involve significant administrative overhead and costs, particularly in larger schools or districts with a wide range of extracurricular activities and responsibilities. Having a designated pool of money for this purpose allows administrators to manage these expenses more effectively and can provide flexibility in compensating staff for additional responsibilities. Planning for and monitoring extra duty can be a smart move. Even a fraction of those extra duty dollars can lead to sizable savings in the overall budget. 

The impact of COLA on K-12 budgets will depend on a variety of factors, including local economic conditions, state funding policies, and the specific needs and priorities of individual school districts. As schools carefully manage their budgets, streamlining the process of managing extra duty is a great option to help save fiscal resources.  

How Helios Can Help 

While extra duty can certainly eat up your budget, Helios can help! With Helios you can pre-approve extra duty, and track absences, hourly, and extra duty timesheets. It can help you with insights on how much money is budgeted for extra pay and how much is remaining. Helios has workflows tied to timecards, so users can quickly run reports on how much time is obligated for extra duty and what needs to be paid out. You can check out our full list of comprehensive modules here to learn more about our solutions. 

In summary, while extra duty pay can strain K-12 budgets due to increased expenses, it can also serve as a valuable tool for recruitment, retention, and providing additional opportunities for students. Careful budget management is essential to ensure that extra duty assignments are sustainable and overpayments can be avoided.  

How are you tracking extra duty?