Thursday, March 11, 1999
School officials find funding formula complicated
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — For school officials, figuring out how much money they will get from the state is a lot like doing income tax forms: It can be complicated.
Despite the complexity, state education officials say districts can count on getting at least as much money in basic state aid this fiscal year as they got last year.
That is according to a memo sent to legislators recently after a news report that 29 percent of the 611 school districts would receive less money.
But projections of state funding for this fiscal year for all districts attached to the memo show that, despite the memo's statement, there is one school district that will get less money this year.
Projections for St. Bernard-Elmwood Place City School District in Hamilton County show basic aid will fall from $732,764 to $727,735, a drop of 0.69 percent. The reduction is because of an $18,267 cut in textbook subsidies caused by an increase in property values per student in the district.
“It's a fluke,” Paul Marshall, the state Department of Education's legislative liaison, said Wednesday.
The intent of the memo was to show that districts would receive at least the same amount of money this year for basic aid programs that include money for each student, transportation, special education subsidies and other expenses, Mr. Marshall said.
The memo noted the complexity of school funding and the development of a new formula that does not compare easily with the old one. It was written by James Van Keuren, interim state school superintendent before Susan Tave Zelman took over Monday.
Ever-changing numbers, including enrollment and district wealth, make it tough to judge how much one school district will get over a year by looking at a portion of the year, the memo said. But legislation passed last year guarantees that the districts will at least get what they received last year.
The best way to determine how much money a district gets is to wait until after the fiscal year ends June 30, Mr. Marshall said.
The latest projections, released in July, show many districts will get an increase of 10 percent or more this fiscal year, Mr. Marshall said.
One district, Gallia County School District, is slated for a 43 percent increase in basic state aid, from $4 million to $5.8 million.
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