Westmoreland Cost Per Pupil Compared with Other Local Schools:

All information shown here is located at greatschools.net which publishes information on schools. It is readily available and easy to access. This site also "grades" schools. Westmoreland Elementary currently is graded a "5" out of "10" on this site. Of the school comparatives used below, Westmoreland did have the lowest overall.

Where does Westmoreland spend the money from our taxes? Westmoreland officials use one excuse of “ACADEMICS” being more important than recess…therefore justifying the elimination of it and replacing it with the new physical education program. But can Westmoreland really back up this claim? Let’s see how they compare to other local schools, (who all currently maintain a recess program.)

Please Note: "State" refers to state average.

Total Cost Per Student:

• State: $15815
• Westmoreland: $13341
• Clinton: $13237
• Oriskany: $13710
• NY Mills: $15799
• New Hartford: $13467

Monies spent per pupil broken down by category in percentages:

INSTRUCTION:

• State: 65%
• Westmoreland: 62%
• Clinton: 67%
• Oriskany: 67%
• NY Mills: 67%
• New Hartford: 68%

STUDENT AND STAFF SUPPORT:

• State: 8%
• Westmoreland: 8%
• Clinton: 10%
• Oriskany: 8%
• NY Mills: 6%
• New Hartford: 7%

ADMINISTRATIVE:

• State: 10%
• Westmoreland: 11%
• Clinton: 10%
• Oriskany: 10%
• NY Mills: 11%
• New Hartford: 9%

OTHER EXPENDITURES:

***The "other" category includes all other types of expenditures. Examples of costs in this category include operations (utilities, maintenance and security), food service, and the salaries of support staff such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers.***

• State: 17%
• Westmoreland: 19%
• Clinton: 13%
• Oriskany: 15%
• NY Mills: 16%
• New Hartford: 16%

As you can see, Westmoreland spends LESS than the state average on INSTRUCTION and less than any of these schools listed! Westmoreland also manages to exceed ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS and OTHER EXPENDITURES above the state average. Westmoreland spends significantly more on “other expenditures” than ANY of these schools. Do we really spend more on our electric bills or some of the other examples given as POSSIBLE "other expenditures"?
Based on these statistics, it appears Westmoreland wants the taxpayers and community to believe that they put ACADEMICS above everything, even sacrificing recess in the name of better ACADEMICS, but it looks like they would really rather spend the money elsewhere!