S.C.O.Re Affect on County Redistricting Financial Performance

January 31, 2011 Page 1

On Friday, January 28, 2011 DeKalb County released a financial analysis of the centralized and

decentralized redistricting options proposed by MGT America. The County’s financial analysis

includes a document summarizing the expected annual savings and implementation costs for the

two options as well as (a) supporting information for individual school savings and (b)

efficiencies in school operations.

Over the weekend of January 29th

and 30th

we reviewed the County’s financial analysis to

ascertain how the SCORe Alternative Plan might affect the County’s expected savings and

implementation costs. This document details our findings. Please note that the depth of our

analysis was constrained by the need to provide the County a response by January 31st.

Additionally, we have based the SCORe Alternative Plan on the school closures identified by the

County under the centralized option. Our SCORe Alternative Plan should not be construed as

endorsing the closure of any particular school.

The table below shows the annual savings the County has identified for the centralized and

decentralized options. We have included an additional column in the County’s table that

describes how we perceive the SCORe Alternative Plan will affect the County’s identified

savings.

Annual Savings Centralized Decentralized SCORe’s Affect on County Identified Savings

Individual School

Savings $9,890,789 $11,282,279

The SCORe Alternative Plan should provide the County with the

same individual school savings as the centralized plan. The

County’s savings in this area are driven by the reduction of personnel

salary / benefits costs and building utility costs for closing several

current schools. The SCORe Alternative Plan uses the same school

closings as the centralized plan and should provide the same individual

school savings.

Efficiencies in

School

Operations

$5,174,650 $4,838,600

The SCORe Alternative Plan should provide the County with the

higher savings associated with the centralized plan. The SCORe

Alternative Plan is based on the same schools remaining open as the

centralized plan and should result in the same overall school

operational efficiencies as the centralized plan.

Total Savings $15,065,439 $16,120,879

Additional

Capital

Entitlement

Earnings

~ $500,000 <$500,000

The SCORe Alternative Plan should provide the County with

similar additional capital entitlement earnings as the centralized

plan. The SCORe Alternative Plan is based on the same schools

remaining open as the centralized plan and should result in similar

additional capital entitlement earnings as the centralized plan.

Figure 1. SCORe’s expected affect on the County identified redistricting savings

S.C.O.Re Affect on County Redistricting Financial Performance

January 31, 2011 Page 2

The County provided a list of implementation costs associated with the centralized and

decentralized redistricting options. Figure 2 below shows how the SCORe Alternative Plan is

expected to affect the County’s identified redistricting implementation costs.

Implementation

Costs Centralized Decentralized SCORe’s Affect on County Identified Savings

Moving and appraisal $140,000 $110,000

The SCORe Alternative Plan will have the same moving and

appraisal implementation costs as the centralized plan. The

SCORe Alternative Plan uses the same school closings as the

centralized plan and should result in the same moving and

appraisal costs.

Provision of band,

athletic and

extracurricular

activities in

centralized magnet

schools

Not estimated

by County Not needed

The SCORe Alternative Plan should have the same costs for

band, athletic and extracurricular activities for the magnet

schools as the centralized plan. While the county did not

provide an estimate for the cost of band, athletic and

extracurricular activities, if such costs are likely to be incurred

under the County’s centralized plan they are also likely to be

incurred under the SCORe Alternative Plan.

Transportation costs

County

estimated these

as minimal

County

estimated

these as

minimal

The SCORe Alternative Plan will provide the County with

considerable transportation cost savings over both the

centralized and decentralized options. The County’s financial

analysis of the centralized and decentralized options indicates that

the transportation costs for these options will be minimally

different from current transportation costs because the increased

costs for transporting additional students under both the

centralized and decentralized options will be offset by having

fewer schools and more efficient bus routes. The SCORe

Alternative Plan achieves the same transportation cost savings

associated with having fewer schools and more efficient bus

routes and will achieve additional savings because it requires the

transportation of fewer children over shorter distances than either

the centralized or decentralized options. In addition to the cost

savings to the County, the SCORe Alternative Plan will give back

to the children of DeKalb County hundreds of unproductive hours

each day that would have been spent in school transportation

under both the centralized and decentralized options.

Figure 2. SCORe’s expected affect on the County identified redistricting implementation costs

In the SCORe Alternative Plan we identified a possible solution for the over capacity issue that

exists at Henderson Middle School under the current, centralized, decentralized and SCORe

Alternative plans. This possible solution is the temporary creation of a 6th

grade annex at

available DeKalb County School System (DCSS) facilities, such as Heritage and Livsey, that

would house some or all of the Henderson Middle School 6th

graders. If the County decides that

this solution is in its best interest, then the County will incur additional costs for facility utilities

and for non-teaching personnel required to staff the facilities (e.g., assistant principal, media

specialist, custodian, etc.). These costs would to some extent be offset by a reduction in costs for

the 13 portable classrooms (i.e., trailers) that are currently in use at Henderson Middle School.