Bounds
Ohio's funding formula is written in floors and ceilings: a district is funded for at least one EMIS employee, its capacity percentage is capped, its guarantee cannot fall below zero. There are 38 such bounds in the model, and for any given district most of them do nothing at all. This is the census of which ones actually decide an amount, and for how many of the state's 609 districts.
38 bounds, and who is on each Contents
One bound decides the amount for 554 of Ohio's 609 districts, and one of the 38 decides it for none. Ranked by districts decided, most first. Each row is a floor, ceiling or clamp in the funding formula, marked at the number of districts for which the bound — not the quantity it bounds — decides the amount. Rows out of fewer than all 609 say so. The scale is logarithmic because the two ends of this census are 554 districts and 1, and on a linear axis the 6 smallest would each be under 1% of its length.
The values
- EMIS support held at one: 554 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(F)(5)(b)
- Clawback threshold: 20, not 10%: 499 of 609 — R.C. 3317.019(C)(1)
- Transport share at the 50% floor: 434 of 604 — R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c)(ii)
- Special ed transport at 50% floor: 411 of 563 — R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c), as applied to ALI 200502
- Fiscal support held at two: 372 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(F)(4)(b)(i)
- Gifted coordinator units, floor: 370 of 609 — R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(a)
- Transport on miles, not riders: 350 of 604 — R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c)
- Other administrators held at two: 328 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(F)(3)(c)
- Capacity aid ends at median wealth: 304 of 609 — R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(a)(i)
- The guarantee itself: 294 of 609 — R.C. 3317.019(A)(1)
- Building support held at one each: 291 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(G)(2)(c)(i)
- Counselors held at one: 278 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(E)(1)(b)
- Wellness staff held at five: 276 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(E)(3)(b)
- No density aid at 28+ riders/sq mi: 212 of 604 — R.C. 3317.0212(H)(1)
- No efficiency adjustment below 1.0: 198 of 604 — R.C. 3317.0212(F)(3)(c)
- 9-12 gifted specialists, floor: 187 of 609 — R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(c)
- No wealth-tier aid under index 0.8: 171 of 609 — R.C. 3317.0217(C)(4)(a)
- Special teachers held at six: 166 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(D)(2)(b)-(c)
- Formula transition supplement: 144 of 609 — H.B. 110 Section 265.225, extended by H.B. 96
- Minimum state share of base cost: 138 of 609 — R.C. 3317.017(C)
- Current enrollment over average: 105 of 609 — R.C. 3317.02(C)
- K-8 gifted specialists, floor: 101 of 609 — R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(b)
- Size-banded pay, over 4,000 pupils: 78 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(A)(10)
- Capacity aid phased in to 600: 68 of 609 — R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(b)(ii)-(iii)
- Efficiency adjustment at 15% cap: 61 of 604 — R.C. 3317.0212(F)(3)(a)
- Size-banded pay, under 500 pupils: 46 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(A)(10)
- Local capacity rate capped at 2.5%: 40 of 609 — Fixed by construction: the ceiling is stated against a rank — R.C. 3317.017(A)(4)(d)(i)
- Transportation's own guarantee: 38 of 609 — R.C. 3317.019(A)(2)
- Clawback larger than the guarantee: 22 of 43 — R.C. 3317.019(C)(2)
- Current income under average: 12 of 609 — R.C. 3317.017(A)(2)(a)
- Current valuation under average: 7 of 609 — R.C. 3317.017(A)(1)(a)
- No capacity aid under 200 pupils: 5 of 609 — R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(a)(ii)
- Fiscal support capped at 35: 3 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(F)(4)(b)(ii)
- Gifted coordinator units, ceiling: 3 of 609 — R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(a)
- Building support capped at 3 each: 2 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(G)(2)(c)(ii)
- Poverty count capped at enrollment: 1 of 609 — the department's DPIA sheet; R.C. 3317.022(A)(4) states no cap
- Guarantee base held at zero: 1 of 609 — R.C. 3317.019(A)(1)
- Leadership support held at one: 0 of 609 — R.C. 3317.011(F)(6)(c)
The two ends of the chart, and the 5 family totals below, are pinned in the site's figure register and quoted by the corpus node for the plan itself — which is where a claim about the whole plan is answered for, this page having no node of its own to bind it to.
What counts as a bound, and what "operative" means Contents
A bound here is a place where the statute takes a maximum or a minimum — a floor, a ceiling, or a clamp to a range — rather than computing straight through. R.C. 3317.011(F)(5)(b) funds "one EMIS support employee, or the district's enrolled ADM divided by one thousand, whichever is greater": that whichever is greater is one bound.
A bound is operative for a district when it is the side that wins. For a district with 400 pupils the EMIS floor is operative, because one employee is more than 0.4; for a district with 4,000 it is not, and the bound is present in the arithmetic and decides nothing. The count beside each bound is how many districts it decides something for, and it is not a measure of how much money moves — a bound can be operative for five hundred districts and be worth a few thousand dollars in each.
This is the FY2027 model as this site runs it, over 609 districts. It counts the side a provision produces, so a district exactly on a bound is counted as being on it.
Where the bounds are Contents
The five parts of the formula do not carry equal numbers of edges. Base cost holds 13 of the 38 on its own — the staffing ratios of R.C. 3317.011 are written as a minimum apiece, so each element of the base cost brings its own floor — while Local capacity has 4.
| Family | Bounds | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Base cost | 13 | 34% |
| Categoricals | 9 | 24% |
| Transportation | 7 | 18% |
| Guarantee | 5 | 13% |
| Local capacity | 4 | 11% |
| Every family | 38 | 100% |
The bound that cannot bind Contents
Leadership support held at one (R.C. 3317.011(F)(6)(c)) is operative for no district in the state, and cannot be. It is a floor beneath a quantity that is never smaller than it — so it is written into the statute, it is modeled here, and it decides nothing. The chart above draws it at the floor of the scale rather than dropping it: a bound with no force is a finding.
The bounds that never have Contents
None. Every bound that can bind does bind, somewhere in the state, for at least one district. The thinnest margins are Poverty count capped at enrollment and Guarantee base held at zero, each of which is the operative term for exactly one district — which is the whole of the difference between a provision that does nothing and a provision that does something.
The census Contents
Every bound the model applies, the provision it comes from, and the number of districts it is the operative term for. The last column is not always 609: a bound inside the transportation formula can only be operative for a district that formula runs for, and the same is true of the clawback. Reading a count against the wrong denominator is the mistake this column exists to prevent.
| Bound | Provision | Districts | Out of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base cost — 13 bounds | |||
| EMIS support held at one | R.C. 3317.011(F)(5)(b) | 554 | 609 |
| Fiscal support held at two | R.C. 3317.011(F)(4)(b)(i) | 372 | 609 |
| Other administrators held at two | R.C. 3317.011(F)(3)(c) | 328 | 609 |
| Building support held at one each | R.C. 3317.011(G)(2)(c)(i) | 291 | 609 |
| Counselors held at one | R.C. 3317.011(E)(1)(b) | 278 | 609 |
| Wellness staff held at five | R.C. 3317.011(E)(3)(b) | 276 | 609 |
| Special teachers held at six | R.C. 3317.011(D)(2)(b)-(c) | 166 | 609 |
| Current enrollment over average | R.C. 3317.02(C) | 105 | 609 |
| Size-banded pay, over 4,000 pupils | R.C. 3317.011(A)(10) | 78 | 609 |
| Size-banded pay, under 500 pupils | R.C. 3317.011(A)(10) | 46 | 609 |
| Fiscal support capped at 35 | R.C. 3317.011(F)(4)(b)(ii) | 3 | 609 |
| Building support capped at 3 each | R.C. 3317.011(G)(2)(c)(ii) | 2 | 609 |
| Leadership support held at one — cannot bind | R.C. 3317.011(F)(6)(c) | 0 | 609 |
| Categoricals — 9 bounds | |||
| Gifted coordinator units, floor | R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(a) | 370 | 609 |
| Capacity aid ends at median wealth | R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(a)(i) | 304 | 609 |
| 9-12 gifted specialists, floor | R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(c) | 187 | 609 |
| No wealth-tier aid under index 0.8 | R.C. 3317.0217(C)(4)(a) | 171 | 609 |
| K-8 gifted specialists, floor | R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(b) | 101 | 609 |
| Capacity aid phased in to 600 | R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(b)(ii)-(iii) | 68 | 609 |
| No capacity aid under 200 pupils | R.C. 3317.0217(B)(4)(a)(ii) | 5 | 609 |
| Gifted coordinator units, ceiling | R.C. 3317.051(A)(1)(a) | 3 | 609 |
| Poverty count capped at enrollment | the department's DPIA sheet; R.C. 3317.022(A)(4) states no cap | 1 | 609 |
| Transportation — 7 bounds | |||
| Transport share at the 50% floor | R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c)(ii) | 434 | 604 |
| Special ed transport at 50% floor | R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c), as applied to ALI 200502 | 411 | 563 |
| Transport on miles, not riders | R.C. 3317.0212(E)(1)(c) | 350 | 604 |
| No density aid at 28+ riders/sq mi | R.C. 3317.0212(H)(1) | 212 | 604 |
| No efficiency adjustment below 1.0 | R.C. 3317.0212(F)(3)(c) | 198 | 604 |
| Efficiency adjustment at 15% cap | R.C. 3317.0212(F)(3)(a) | 61 | 604 |
| Transportation's own guarantee | R.C. 3317.019(A)(2) | 38 | 609 |
| Guarantee — 5 bounds | |||
| Clawback threshold: 20, not 10% | R.C. 3317.019(C)(1) | 499 | 609 |
| The guarantee itself | R.C. 3317.019(A)(1) | 294 | 609 |
| Formula transition supplement | H.B. 110 Section 265.225, extended by H.B. 96 | 144 | 609 |
| Clawback larger than the guarantee | R.C. 3317.019(C)(2) | 22 | 43 |
| Guarantee base held at zero | R.C. 3317.019(A)(1) | 1 | 609 |
| Local capacity — 4 bounds | |||
| Minimum state share of base cost | R.C. 3317.017(C) | 138 | 609 |
| Local capacity rate capped at 2.5% | R.C. 3317.017(A)(4)(d)(i) | 40 | 609 |
| Current income under average | R.C. 3317.017(A)(2)(a) | 12 | 609 |
| Current valuation under average | R.C. 3317.017(A)(1)(a) | 7 | 609 |
What this census does not count Contents
Steps and brackets are not bounds. A schedule that pays one rate below a threshold and another above it is a piecewise function, not a maximum, and a district is always in exactly one of its pieces. The capacity tiers of targeted assistance are the largest example: they are in the formula, they change what a district is paid, and no row above names them.
Prorations are not bounds either. Where an appropriation is insufficient the statute scales every payment by a common factor; that is a multiplier applied to everyone, not a term that wins for some districts and loses for others.
And a count of districts is not a count of dollars. The ranking above says how often a bound is the deciding term, not what turns on it. The one place where those two come apart most sharply is the guarantee, which is operative for roughly half the state and carries about an eighth of the money — see who a change reachesfor who it holds still, and what a change does for what moving a lever costs.