© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

School districts get annual state aid estimates

File
/
KBIA

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has informed each school district in the state of its annual aid estimates.

One area school district that is receiving less money for the upcoming school year is the Fayette R-3 District. Fayette is estimated to receive about forty-seven thousand dollars less in state aid, which will be about 2.1 million dollars for the 2012-2013 school year of. Superintendent James Judd says his school district was already operating on a tight budget but will do whatever it can to make it work.

“We will have to you know further evaluate what other reductions we might have to make in order to not delve into our balances,” Judd said.

Judd says the school district has been building its balances in other funds because it anticipated a reduction in its state aid and as of right now will not be making any staff cuts.

The funding levels are calculated by using the formula put into place six years ago. The formula takes into account average daily attendance, the cost of educating each student and wages based on cost of living. Roger Dorson with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says there is one other factor, too.

“The next thing that is done then is a subtraction of local revenue sources such as taxes, fines and those types, there’s like seven, eight or nine of those different local revenue sources,” Dorson said.

Dorson says there are always districts that will do better with the old formula versus the new one. The Jefferson City school district actually had an increase of 3.3 percent, while Columbia had a decrease of 1.4 percent, Fulton, a decrease of 2.5 percent and Boonville, a decrease of 0.7 percent.