About a BOCES budget
A BOCES budget is comprised of separate budgets for administrative, program, and capital costs. After administrative assessments from non-component schools and other BOCES, component districts must share in the administrative and capital costs.
Administrative and Capital Budgets
The administrative budget supports the cost of all personnel and related expenses for central administration, including human resources, business office, and health insurance for retirees. State law requires all retiree insurance benefits to be paid through the administrative budget.
The capital budget includes the cost of facility rentals and capital projects.
Resident Weighted Average Daily Attendance (RWADA)
Charges for administrative and capital budgets are allocated to component school districts based on a State Education Department-developed student count known as RWADA. Based on student attendance/enrollment, each district pays a proportional amount based on its share of the total RWADA.
Program Budget
The program budget represents the actual cost of running our 300+ programs and services.
There is no requirement for school districts to participate in any of our programs. Each year, districts review their needs and make purchasing decisions. If a district doesn’t need a BOCES service, it will not request it and does not pay for it.
BOCES Aid
As an incentive for collaboration, school districts receive aid from the State for the shared BOCES services purchased the previous year. This funding is called BOCES Aid. The level of aid received is based on a formula that takes into account each district’s financial resources. The aid is distributed directly to the individual districts, not to BOCES.