Financial Overview

Revenue

How Schools Are Funded

Local revenue is NKC Schools' largest source of funding. Property taxes paid by residents and businesses in our district support our schools. Read more about how our tax rate is calculated.

State funding comes from income tax and sales tax that we pay in Missouri. The state uses the Foundation Formula to determine how much each school district gets. This formula includes student attendance, cost of living, local funding, and more.

Federal funding pays for specific programs, like special education, child nutrition, and English language learning. Districts that serve more students with high levels of need receive more federal funding.

Source: NKC Schools 2026-2027 Annual Budget

pie chart showing distribution of revenue

As a district, we have no control over our revenue. We can only control our outputs.

The Four Funds

Like all Missouri school districts, NKC Schools organizes its finances into four main funds. Think of these as four different bank accounts, each used to pay for different kinds of expenses.

General	Teacher	Capital projects
Salaries and benefits for non-certificated (support) staff Services Supplies	Salaries and benefits for certificated (teaching) staff Tuition	Facility or land acquisition Construction Lease purchase principal and interest payments Other capital
The district's Operating Levy may be placed within any of these funds.

Debt Service
Long-term debt payments of principal, interest and fees
Debt Service Levy

Expenditures

The main types of expenses that make up the district's budget are salaries and benefits at 79%, purchased services at 14%, and supplies at 7%.

Salaries & Benefits

Serving all students starts with great people, so our largest investment is in our employees.

About 80% of the district’s budget pays for salaries and benefits for our 3,500 staff members.
NKC Schools is the third-largest employer in Clay County.
The total cost to employ one teacher, on average, is about $82,400, including their salary and benefits.
The cost to provide an annual step and lane increase (about a 2.3% raise) to our staff is $2.5 million.
Our student to classroom teacher ratio is 1:18.
Our student to administrator ratio is 1:199, lower than the state average.
NKC Schools’ professional staff have an average of 13.8 years of experience. 60.9% hold an advanced degree.

Sources: NKC Schools 2026-2027 Annual Budget, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education North Kansas City 74 District Report Card 2025