Driver's Education and Other News
by Darrel Stufflebeam
April 14, 2009
Driver’s Education and Budget Update
State funding for Driver’s Education was significantly reduced last year and we were forced to raise fees. This year, the state legislature completely eliminated funding for the program, which would’ve meant another large fee increase. As a result, we examined other options for the program.
The BOE has decided to contract with a private driving school based out of Manhattan. The school offers some advantages that the school district cannot. For example, the classroom work is completed on one Saturday and the student’s driving schedules are planned around the student’s schedule. The price for the program is similar to what the school district fees would have been. Eligible students and their parents will be receiving information about the program in the mail.
In other news, we are in the process of discussing several budget-cutting options for next year and those discussions will continue for the next month or two. So far, the BOE has decided not to pursue a reduction-in-force, which means that we won’t have larger class sizes or lose course offerings. There will almost certainly be some unpleasant budget cuts for next year but we will do everything possible to avoid cuts that have a serious, negative impact on students.
The BOE will also consider raising our Local Option Budget (LOB), which is our local property tax. The maximum LOB allowed is 31% of the General Fund (the General Fund is the money we get from the state). The LOB average is about 28% in Kansas and, since our LOB is about 15% of the General Fund, we could raise a lot of local revenue if necessary. As always, the BOE will be as responsible and cautious as possible in regard to the LOB.
As you may recall from several of last year’s newspaper articles, the construction of the new St. George Elementary School gives us the option of pursuing New Facility Funding (NFF) for the next two years. NFF would allow us to count each SGES student as one and a quarter students for two years. Using this year’s enrollment figures, we would receive about $300,000 per year in additional state funding. Unfortunately, we have to have an LOB of at least 25% of our General Fund to qualify for NFF.
Using this year’s data, that would require an increase of about10 mills, which would mean an additional $330,000 in local taxes. Since the state pays “matching” money on the LOB, it would also mean an additional $370,000 from the state. Overall then, we would receive an additional $670,000 from the state per year at a local cost of $330,000. As you can see, that would be a great return on our local investment. On the other hand, a 10-mill increase would mean adding about $9.60 to the monthly tax of a house appraised at $100,000.
Please keep in mind that these figures are all based on this year’s information and are tentative. The final numbers won’t be known until June. Also, the economic crisis could cause state finance rules to change at any time.
I’ll keep you informed along the way and you should feel free to offer your opinion to me or BOE members. Our contact information is available on our website (www.rockcreekschools.org).
