Board warns proposed funding changes could immediately cut district revenue if enrollment falls
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Summary
Board staff told trustees that a school-funding amendment (SB 62) would remove the one-year hold-harmless provision and could force immediate budget reductions following enrollment declines; members raised concerns and asked staff to seek clarifications on counting methods and possible redirections.
Board staff told trustees the district faces potential near-term funding impacts from several bills under consideration at the state legislature.
Mister Mitchell summarized SB 62 as a school-funding amendment that would remove the current one-year hold-harmless protection and make districts immediately accountable for enrollment declines. “So if we were to lose 800 students, which is kind of what we projected this year, we would immediately lose that funding,” Mitchell said, warning that the change would force tighter budgets and rapid rebalancing.
Mitchell said some components of the bill remain unclear — including whether funding will be based on average daily membership (ADM) or October 1 counts — and that uncertainty complicates the district’s budgeting process. He also noted an identified $77,000,000 decrease at the state level that the sponsor said could be redirected into education (special education, at-risk, or voting board updates), but the timing and details are not settled.
Mitchell told trustees SB 65 remains a concern because it would re-route the state basic-levy receipts into a new state-level fund and could leave districts without interim interest on those balances while the state holds the money. “When the state's collecting all that from all the districts, they're gaining all of that interest,” Mitchell said, noting that the district collects roughly $30,000,000 in that levy and that interim interest on those sums is nontrivial.
Trustees asked for clarification about counting methods, timing, and possible offsets. Staff said they will continue to follow committee hearings and will report back when bill language is more certain.