From the Terre Haute Tribune-Star:
State funding for the Vigo County School Corp. will remain “pretty flat” for the next two years, said Donna Wilson, chief financial officer.
And the district already is preparing to tighten its belt, once again.
The Legislature approved a state budget that provides a 2 percent increase in total funding for schools the first year and a 1 percent increase the second year.
But not every district will see increases.
According to Terry Spradlin, of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University, 121 of Indiana school districts — or 42 percent — will see no increase or they’ll have a decrease in funding.
Under funding estimates posted on the Senate Republican website, Vigo County’s funding would increase just $18,000 the first year, from $99,900,499 this year to $99,918,474 next year, a zero percent increase.
The following year it is projected to decrease 0.4 percent, to $99,490,898.
The funding formula projects a 2.8 percent decline in enrollment the first year, or 425 in average daily membership (ADM). The second year, it projects another enrollment decline of 1.6 percent, to 14,284 ADM. Kindergarten students count as one-half student for ADM purposes.
“I don’t anticipate that big of a drop,” Wilson said, so hopefully, funding will be somewhat better than projected.
The total per student funding actually increases each year, from the current $6,685 to $6,882 in 2014 and $6,965 in 2015.
Vigo County receives more dollars per student, but as enrollment goes down, funding flattens out, she said.
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See the full article here:
http://tribstar.com/local/x319989952/Vigo-schools-prepare-to-tighten-belts
