The problem:
While the basic education funding from the state follows the student to the new district, the bill to the student's home district is determined with a formula that takes into account the amount of the high school district's levy, said John Molohon, fiscal assistant superintendent of Educational Service District 113.
So, when the levy rises in the high school district, the smaller district's bill also rises, whether or not its taxpayers would have approved the levy, Brannam said.
That's a situation that's applies only to high school students who live in areas without a high school, he said.
If a transfer student comes to Griffin — as 20 percent of its students do — they are funded only through state basic education funds, leaving the district to cover the rest.
The solution:
"We wouldn't be so reliant on our special levies as we are if the state funded us at the right level," [WSSDA's John Dekker] said.
Amen and amen. Simple majorities are a bandaid, but the wound's still bleeding.
We live in a district like that... it is very difficult sometimes to pass levies because people don't understand that so much of the money that we raise is for the education of the older kids. Some programs in the elementary/middle schools were cut, I assume it's because the funds were needed for the high school tuition.
ReplyDelete