PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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School District is currently classified for small school funding, the contribution from the state becomes substantially lower on a per -pupil basis. The loss from the additional funding from the small category would be greater than the additional incremental increase in revenues from the state based on the increase in student population" (pg. 133). Easton School District operates under a small schools funding formula. While there is a negative financial impact to larger districts from a drop in enrollment, the opposite effect occurs to small districts that are negatively impacted (financially) by a rise in student population when increased expenditures exceed any additional revenues and the rise in student population reduces the benefit of the small school funding formula. Since two grades are taught in most classrooms at Easton School, an increase in student population can easily lead to teaching single grades in a classroom instead of two grades which results in increase in staffing costs. Our Business Manager, Wandah Messinger ran a simulation that increased our student population by 37 students. This would require additional staffing of at least three teachers. After adding the additional revenue that the district would receive from the additional 37 students and subtracting the expenditures (salaries and benefits) of three additional teachers, the district would be faced with a $100,000 budget deficit. This preliminary calculation does not include additional cost for paraprofessional support and the cost of additional supplies or materials. There will also be an increase in the cost of transportation because our two bus runs are close to capacity now. The increase in student population would require additional buses, bus drivers, and the facilities to house them since our current bus building is at capacity. Furthermore, if another school is required, there would be additional staff that would need to be hired in order to operate a separate school. In addition to increasing the teaching staff, an additional school would require additional secretarial, janitorial, transportation, cafeteria, and paraprofessional staff. While there will be an increase in the assessed valuation of the district if the development goes through, the additional expenses, particularly if an additional school is needed will far outweigh any benefit from an increased tax base. These on-going costs will not be absorbed by the developers. Rather, our local community will bear the burden of any additional costs through their local levies. Importance of Community Support Community support is critical to Easton School District. The Environmental Impact Statement includes the following statement. "State basic education financing is established by the state legislature through annual appropriating and includes funding for what the state defines as basic education. The key to state funding however is an apportionment system that is based on a formula for costs that may not actually pay the true cost to the district" (pg. 132). The EIS further states, "an important consideration in rapidly developing communities is the willingness of existing residents to pass operating levies (and construction bond levies) to support additional growth. If local citizens are not willing to pass such levies, the quality of school service would decline from the current level to the level that would be supported by state funding alone" (pg. 132). In the past, many school districts supported their extracurricular and supplemental educational programs through local Maintenance and Operations levies. These programs were meant to enrich the offerings of a school and were not intended to support basic education. However, these local levies have been increasingly more important to the financial health of school districts, not just with enrichment programs, but to help meet the basic educational needs of the district as well. While the topic of school financing is currently being debated in public and legislative forums, the need for community support of local levies and bonds is critical to the 3