Communication Materials

Common Core of Data (CCD) School-Level
Finance Survey (SLFS) 2022-2024

Appendix A
Communication Materials

OMB# 1850-0930 v.6

September 2022
revised July 2023
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

Contents:
A.1. SLFS 2022 Announcement letter to Respondents
A.2. SLFS 2022 File Submission Instructions
A.3. SLFS 2022 Public Comment Letter

March 27, 2023
Dear State Fiscal Coordinator:
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education
and the U.S. Census Bureau would like to thank you for your participation in the FY 2022
School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS). Policymakers, researchers, and the public have voiced
concerns about the distribution of school funding within elementary-secondary school districts.
This survey provides a central source of data for examining the extent to which school-level
education resources are distributed across and within school districts. Your assistance enables
us to collect and report school-level education finance information that is valuable to a variety
of data users. Please be aware that public records retained from this collection do not require
confidentiality.
NCES, within the U.S. Department of Education, is authorized to conduct this study by the
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002; 20 U.S.C. § 9543).
Section 203(c)(1) of the 1979 Department of Education Organization Act (DEOA) conveys to
the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights the authority to “collect or coordinate the collection of
data necessary to ensure compliance with civil rights laws within the jurisdiction of the Office
for Civil Rights.” See 20 U.S.C. § 3413(c)(1). The civil rights laws enforced by OCR for
which the CRDC collects data include Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits
discrimination based on race, color, or national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972, which prohibits discrimination based on sex; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Also, Section 203(c)(3)
of the DEOA authorizes OCR “to enter into contracts and other arrangements … with public
agencies … as may be necessary to carry out [its] compliance and enforcement functions ….”
OCR is working with NCES to assist OCR with collecting school level finance data as part of
the CRDC.
The purpose of this letter is to officially announce the opening of the collection for the FY
2022 survey. I have enclosed the FY 2022 survey form and the materials you need to
participate, which will assist you with your data submission. If you need additional
information or have questions about any of the data items, please feel free to contact me or the
SLFS staff at the Census Bureau at (800) 622-6193 or erd.slfs.list@census.gov.
We also ask that you please provide contact information for any state education agency
personnel that can be reached by the SLFS staff with any questions about your state's SLFS
submission. Please provide the following information in response to this letter:
1) State coordinator name, title, phone number, and email
2) If you have delegated someone else to be the primary contact for data inquiries,

please provide this person's name, title, phone number, and email address
We look forward to working with your state on this survey. The success of this collection will
be due to your cooperation, and we greatly appreciate your efforts.
Sincerely,

Stephen Q. Cornman, Project Director
School-Level Finance Survey
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
Stephen.Cornman@ed.gov
(202) 245-7753

FY 2022 SLFS FILE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - Send a File Utility
This is a user-friendly method of sending your data files to the Census Bureau.
1. Go to the URL: https://secure.census.gov/cgi-bin/sendfile
2. When prompted, login with your User-ID and Password. (User-ID = slfs; the
Password will arrive in a separate e-mail.)
3. Browse to the file to be uploaded.
4. Select the file to be uploaded in the directory browser pop-up.
5. Click “Open” button in the directory browser pop-up. This closes the pop up, and
places the file name (and its full path) in the text field labeled “File to Send.”
6. Optionally, provide a different name in the “New File Name” text field. This new
name will be used to save the file on the target server.
7. Provide sender’s email address in the text field labeled “Sender’s Email Address.”
8. Please enter erd.slfs.list@census.gov in the text field “Census Bureau Employee’s EMail Address.” An e-mail will be sent to this e-mail address when the upload process
is complete letting staff know your data have been uploaded to the Census Bureau.

Note: If you cannot locate the password, please contact SLFS staff by phone or e-mail.
E-mail: erd.slfs.list@census.gov
Phone: (800) 622 – 6193

July 5, 2023
Dear State Fiscal Coordinator,
As you are aware, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the Common
Core of Data (CCD) School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) 2022-2024 package on April 18, 2023
and also approved adding the Responses to 30D Comments as a non-substantive change to a
currently approved collection on May 19, 2023.
The proposal for NCES to assist the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) with collecting school
level finance data as part of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for fiscal years 2022
through 2024 requires the following under an incremental action plan:
 SEAs to report total current expenditures for each public PK-12 school within the state in
school year 2021-22; and
 SEAs to report total current expenditures by four subfunctions and three exhibits in
school years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
SEA respondents have the option – and are encouraged to – report additional expenditure
data for each public (PK-12) school in the State as requested on the SLFS form for the FY 22,
FY 23, and FY 24 data collections.
The purpose of this letter is to reiterate that NCES and the Census Bureau are flexible
pertaining to the implementation of the SLFS incremental action plan. The Responses to 30D
Comments on the SLFS 2022-2024 package states that, “NCES will carefully listen to the
comments of State Fiscal Coordinators regarding whether the incremental action plan should be
applied in a flexible manner. For example, is anticipated that schools will be able to collect and
report total current expenditures for Instruction (function 1000) and Instructional Staff Support
Services (function 2200) as that data includes salaries and benefits for teachers, teaching
assistants, librarians and library aides, and in-service teacher trainers. (Cornman, Phillips,
Howell, and Zhou, 2022, fn. 5). 1 Personnel at the school-level are cognizant of the salaries and
benefits for teachers as well as teaching assistants for their respective schools. School-level
personnel also have access to expenditures incurred for curriculum development, student
assessment, technology, and supplies and purchased services related to those activities, which
encompasses the balance of current expenditures for Instruction and Instructional Staff Support
Services. It is also anticipated that schools will be able to collect and report total current
expenditures for School Administration Support Services (function 2400).” (pg. 10-11).
The Responses to 30D Comments on the SLFS 2022-2024 package further states that, “If
SEAs cannot immediately report expenditures for Student Support Services (function 2100),
Cornman, S.Q., Phillips, J.J., Howell, M.R., and Zhou, L. (2022). Revenues and Expenditures for Public
Elementary and Secondary Education: FY 20 (NCES 2022-301). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC:
National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved [date] from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.

1

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which includes activities designed to assess and improve the well-being of students (e.g.
administrative, guidance, health, and logistical support), NCES will be flexible and focus on
developing the capacity of school-level personnel to collect and report these expenditures going
forward. (Allison, 2015, p. 123). 2 NCES will provide technical support to State Fiscal
Coordinators on how to collect and report expenditures related to student health and guidance by
conducting quarterly interactive webinars, including cross-training by other SEAs. 3 Therefore, if
SEAs cannot report expenditures for one of four data items in the SLFS incremental action plan,
such as Student Support Services, NCES will provide the opportunity for an extension of time
the States to develop the ability to report the data.” (pg. 11).
The NCES Response to the 30D Comments on the SLFS 2022-2024 package can be
viewed at: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=202305-1850-005.
NCES and Census Bureau will conduct training on submission of the FY 22 SLFS data
on August 10th at 9:00 AM during the 2023 STATS-DC data conference in Bethesda, Maryland.
This training will be offered in-person for State Fiscal Coordinators and a virtual link will be
provided in the immediate future.
NCES and Census Bureau staff members are ready to formally meet with your staff
members pertaining to questions about the SLFS FY 2022-2024 data collection. If you would
like to schedule a meeting or have any other questions or concerns, I can be reached via email at
stephen.cornman@ed.gov.
Sincerely,

Stephen Q. Cornman, Ph.D.
Senior Survey Director, School
Finance Surveys
550 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20202
U.S. Department of Education

Allison, G.S. (2015). Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems: 2014 Edition (NCES 2015- 347).
National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Washington, DC. Retrieved January 2, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015347.
3
The SLFS instructions for student support services provide that, “Report expenditures for administrative, guidance,
health, and logistical support that enhance instruction. Include attendance, social work, student accounting,
counseling, student appraisal, information, record maintenance, and placement services. Also include medical,
dental, nursing, psychological, and speech services.”
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