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Marshall board hears legislative funding update, flags special‑education cuts and policy review
Summary
At its meeting, the Marshall Public School District board heard a legislative briefing noting shifting compensatory funding proposals, a state special‑education funding cut partially offset by $50 million from the governor, discussion of a permanent school fund payout amendment, and questions about a new grooming felony statute.
The board chair gave an update on recent state legislative activity that could affect the district’s budget and operations, noting shifting proposals on compensatory funding and changes affecting special education.
Why it matters: The chair characterized the compensatory funding debate as important for rural districts seeking 'hold harmless' treatment and warned that an enacted special‑education funding cut could increase the district’s cross‑subsidy burden.
What the chair reported: The chair said the senate initially proposed $35,000,000 for compensatory funding, which was later reported to have dropped to $25,000,000, and that the house had offered no compensatory funding. "The senate is offering 35,000,000 but they plus just last week dropped that to 25,000,000, and the house has offered nothing on compensatory," the chair said.
Special education and the permanent school fund: The chair noted a state statute includes a $250,000,000 special‑education cut that will remain unless repealed and that the governor recently added $50,000,000, which the chair said could reduce the district’s special‑education cross‑subsidy from 50% to about 44%, a change the chair said would strain the general fund. The chair also described a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the permanent school fund payout to 4.5% (from roughly 2–2.5%), which would require voter approval in November.
Other legislative items: The chair summarized debate over a bill that would require employers to enroll employees working more than 14 hours in health insurance and said it could require the district to pay up to 95% of premiums, with the state covering the difference; the timeline for that bill, the chair said, could be one to two years. The chair also noted a unanimously passed bill making grooming a felony and raised operational questions — for example, how one‑on‑one lessons or the presence of a single student on a bus would be handled under the law.
Policy review and next steps: The chair introduced a first review of a batch of MSBA policy updates, saying most changes are minor or grammatical while a few require more work; the district will review the policies two more times before approval.
What comes next: Board members received the updates; no formal votes on legislative positions or policy adoptions were taken at the meeting. The chair adjourned the meeting after the scheduled items concluded.
