Last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that set allowable growth for school funding at one percent for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. Many districts are concerned this will create a shortfall in the next budget year, but Carroll Community School District (CCSD) Superintendent, Rob Cordes, says they should be able to handle the low increase in new money without too much strain.
At one percent growth, the district will only receive an additional $12,000 in added state funding. According to Cordes, this would generally fall short of what they need, but good financial decisions in previous years have left them with a suitable reserve fund. He says the board made those efforts for exactly this situation.
He adds that could change very quickly if allowable growth continues to remain at one percent. What the state does in the future is largely dependent on the budget in that particular year. Cordes predicts funding will increase, but is not optimistic that it will be substantial.
The high point during that period was in FY2017. Allowable growth more than halved in the subsequent years. Cordes says he and the board will work to ensure the impact to students is minimized. The board meets next on Monday, March 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Adams Elementary School boardroom.
