Friday, April 07, 2000
Schools to battle fund cap
Lakota, Mason feel impact
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
UNION TOWNSHIP — Lakota Superintendent Kathleen Klink is starting what she hopes will become a statewide letter-writing campaign, urging Ohio legislators to stop limiting the amount of funds that growing school districts — and those with special needs — can receive from the state.
Under the 1998 school funding legislation, Ohio school districts cannot receive more than a 10 percent increase in state funding from the previous year, regardless of enrollment increases or other circumstances.
Lakota Local Schools, Ohio's eighth-largest district, missed out on $3 million last school year and $4.2 million this year because of the cap.
Warren County's rapidly growing Springboro and Mason schools lost $1.2 million and $474,752, respectively.
“Over the last two years we grew by 1,037 students but received no funding,” Mrs. Klink said.
Ohio legislators capped school funding two ways: a per-pupil cap, which affects growing districts, and a total funding cap, which affects districts such as Cincinnati that have high levels of poverty. The amount of money those districts receive in special funds is limited even if the number of students living below the poverty level is up. Cincinnati Public Schools lost $4.8 million this year because of the cap, the highest dollar amount of the school districts affected.
All together, 54 Ohio school districts in 29 counties — including 13 districts in four Southwest Ohio counties — will not receive $27.3 million because of the cap. It is particularly irritating, educators say, because the state has a $1 billion “rainy day” fund.
“This is less than one out of 10 districts, and less than one-half of 1 percent of the $6.4 billion education budget,” Mrs. Klink said in an information packet being sent to every Lakota school organization. “While it is a very small percentage of the education budget, it has a major impact on the students of those 54 districts.”
The packets, also mailed to officials of the 54 affected school districts, urge them to write to legislators.
Mrs. Klink and Lakota Treasurer Alan Hutchinson also met Thursday with Gov. Bob Taft and Rep. Gary Cates, R-West Chester, to try to get the cap repealed.“We have to educate people on the severity of impact of fast-growing districts like Lakota,” Mr. Cates said. “There are so few districts in the state that are affected that it's not on people's radar screens.”
He cited one recent month — after the official October count of Ohio's students — that Lakota enrolled 66 new pupils.
“As far as the state knows, they don't exist,” Mr. Cates said.
Mason Superintendent Kevin Bright said his district will participate in the letter-writing campaign.
MONEY LOST
Local districts and the amount of money they lost because of the cap this school year:
• Butler County: Edgewood, $318,427; Lakota, $4,234,580.
• Clermont County: Batavia, $176,903.
• Hamilton County: Cincinnati, $4,801,863; Madeira, $181,068; Mariemont, $369,037; Wyoming, $890,646; Forest Hills, $558,446; Northwest, $760,657; Oak Hills, $521,628; Three Rivers, $478,926.
• Warren County: Springboro, $1,193,550; Mason, $474,752.
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