Seattle Public Schools is gathering community input on a new school funding model that district officials say will be more transparent and equitable than the current system.

The proposed "Weighted Staffing Standard" model will distribute about $5.5 million new dollars into district buildings, some of which comes from central office cuts, said Duggan Harman, fiscal compliance manager for the district.

The new program is based on differentiated weighting according to the size of a school, said Harman.

"As your school size goes up, so does the number of staff you receive," he said. "It's reliable and predictable."

Seattle currently uses a "Weighted Student Formula "system to distribute funds to schools. It's based on three basic principles; funds follow the students, resources are calculated in dollars rather than the number of full-time staff, and allocation varies by the learning needs of each student, such as bilingual and students with disabilities.

The district wants to change elements of the current system because it's too complex and cumbersome to work with.

"There were only one to two people that actually understood it from A to Z," Harman said. "This new program fixes that."

Harman spoke at a public meeting last week at Madison Middle School in West Seattle, the last of three community presentations on the new funding model.

The proposed structure funds core staffers like administrators, secretaries, counselors, nurses and other basic staff. It provides additional staff beyond that for larger schools. Funding for resources and supplies is also expected to increase under the model.

"Schools will have at least, if not more, discretionary dollars in this model," Harman said.

Though it is not yet finalized, a completed system should be constant throughout the district, regardless of where a school is located.

The School Board began discussing a funding formula change in 2003. In February this year, the board asked central staff to develop a more centralized model.

"What the board is considering now is a product that has taken more than two years to develop," said Harman. "The goal was to keep the good points of what we had and see if we can improve them."

One of the biggest problems with the current model is that the dollars follow the students.

The state funds the district annually based on a ratio of students to teachers. Buildings are given a chunk of money and told to staff their buildings. But there's often not enough money to buy the staff needed, said Harman.

Many end up funding teachers through grant money, which then has to be switched out with reserved state dollars. Teachers funded through grants are not counted toward the state's student to teacher ratio requirements.

With the new system, the reserve dollars can go back into the buildings, Harman said.

The model retains an important element of the current system that adds resources for students who are disabled, bilingual or qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program, said Harman.

Some special education programs have not been fully funded and have required money from general education resources. The new model fully funds special needs programs, said Harman.

Parents would still be able to fundraise with weighted staffing standards. Principals and other core staff would continue to participate in teacher hiring processes.

For the past few weeks, principals have been working on mock budgets with the proposed system. The district has been making adjustments based on those test runs, said Michelle Corker-Curry, deputy chief academic officer.

Alternative programs like South Lake and Middle College were not included in the model so they can be looked at on a "case-by-case" basis. The district is also awaiting the results of a current audit on its special programs.

"We didn't feel a standard for them, one size didn't fit all," Harman said.

The School Board is scheduled to vote on Oct. 17. If approved, schools will develop budgets using the new model for the 2008-09 school year.

"For the next couple of weeks we will be listening, learning and talking," said Corker-Curry. "The community meetings have been very valuable for us. It's on all of our plates."

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com