The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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July 26, 2008

Enid sees increase in school funding

By Bridget Nash, Staff Writer

Two hundred twenty-four Oklahoma school districts will receive less state funding this coming school year, according to Oklahoma State Superintendent Sandy Garrett.

Enid Public Schools, though, is not one of those districts. EPS will receive $21,224,382 in state aid for the 2008-09 school year, up $398,202 from last year.

“While public school enrollment has increased and the higher costs for fuel, utilities and food are going to be a grave challenge for many school districts,” said Garrett, “The state Legislature did not appropriate additional funding for school operations for the 2008-2009 school year.”

For most districts, state aid comprises the largest source of funding.

While the total dollar amount of state school funding provided by the Legislature has remained almost the same, the method for appropriating those funds has been placed in a different formula.

“There is a very complicated funding formula,” said Shelly Hickman, public affairs director for Oklahoma State Department of Education. “The funding formula is supposed to achieve equity statewide.”

For the 2008-09 school year, state school districts will receive about $2 billion in state aid, compared to $1.98 billion last year. However, according to Garrett, the increase of $23.4 million that was distributed to school districts was not an increase in operational funding. The $23.4 million represents school districts’ employer costs for teacher retirement, she said, and previously was distributed outside of state aid. For the 2008-09 fiscal year, the money was included in the state aid formula and will be divided among schools according to factors such as enrollment numbers and each district’s ad valorem revenue.

According to Garrett, the reasons for school districts receiving less money for the upcoming school year include declining enrollment during the 2007-08 school year and/or an increase in a district’s local collections (ad valorem, gross production, motor vehicle and REA taxes).

Waukomis Superintendent Brad Goodwin said schools that are losing a percentage of their funding this year actually will lose more than is shown on paper.

“They have upped the percentage that the employer pays for teacher retirement,” he said.

While Waukomis Public Schools will receive approximately $82,000 less in state aid, Goodwin said, it also will have to pay more into the teacher retirement fund, resulting in a total loss of approximately $100,000.

Other Garfield County schools’ state aid for 2008-09 and the differences from 2007-08 are:

• Covington-Douglas — $1,104,546, $31,263 decrease.

• Chisholm — $1,701,189, $291,741 decrease.

• Drummond — $750,738, $14,479 increase.

• Garber — $1,132,027, $89,649 increase.

• Kremlin-Hillsdale — $697,842, $39,134 increase.

• Pioneer-Pleasant Vale — $1,057,790, $215,821 increase.

• Waukomis — $890, 883, $82,284 decrease.

Those numbers do not factor in additional money schools will pay into the teacher retirement fund.

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