The finance picture for schools is not quite as grim as The Register reported last week.
State legislators did not omit funding for bond and interest payments for the construction of new schools beginning July 1.
What will be eliminated are funds to help outfit any new buildings, including furniture and technology, for bond issues passed after July 1.
The difference is significant.
With its obligation to help districts meet the monthly payments on bond and interest obligations, the state would give about 49 percent support in building a new school in USD 257. For a $25 million facility, for example, the state would agree to pay almost $12.5 million of its construction.
Withdrawing the support to help outfit the building will be a loss of about $670,250 for each of two years.
The formula is figured on 25 percent of the number of full-time students attending the intended new school. About 695 students are enrolled in prekindergarten through sixth grade.
“UP UNTIL the last moment, we had been worried we would lose the bond and interest funding,” said Jack Koehn, superintendent of schools for USD 257.
“It’s been on legislators’ radar for the last three or four years,” he said. As a whole, the state spent more than $111 million for helping districts build new schools for 2012-13.
“We were afraid that would be pulled out of their pocket at their late-night session,” Koehn said. “Instead, it was teacher tenure.”
Helping school districts build new schools is essential for small districts such as Iola’s, Koehn said.
“Students, teachers and administrators shouldn’t have to worry about what zip code they live in as to whether they have adequate facilities,” he said.
“I don’t know what the ‘master plan’ of Kansas leaders is today when it comes to education,” he said. “It seems they want us to be ‘creative,’ and find other tax resources to fund our schools.”
Koehn acknowledged “it’s only a matter of time,” before the state aid for bond and interest payments will be eliminated.
And once gone, “it’ll never come back.”
