Central Bucks SD (Bucks County) is the third-largest district in the state. Its average cost per student is approximately $13,000, which is nevertheless the lowest in Bucks County. The district website contains several reports intended to clarify budget issues.

The budget for 2009-10 appears as a .pdf copy of a PowerPoint presentation. It includes a list of “Pressure Points” highlighting issues with serious budgetary implications, such as rising costs of district contributions to the state retirement system. One chart called a “History of State Subsidy” compares trends in state subsidies to inflation rates and notes how these subsidies have differed in legislative election years and non-election years. These are revenue issues worth explaining, but it’s hard to cram two idea into one chart. They were probably clear when explained orally to a live audience, but I found this particular graphic confusing. But that’s a quibble.

One page (shown below) lists major expense categories, ranked from most expensive to least expensive. I think it’s fine when websites post raw budget data in the format required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. But 20-plus pages of coded line-item entries can be mind-numbing. This one-page list gives readers an easy-to-grasp snapshot of how the district spends money.