Senate poised to miss deadline for setting school aid

CHRIS BALDUS cbaldus clintonherald som, Clinton Herald, Iowa
·4 min read

Feb. 7—One day short of the Feb. 8 deadline, an Iowa House committee advanced a "shell" bill without a number for the school supplemental aid growth for next school year.

School districts use that percentage to determine what revenue they will receive from the state on certified enrollments, which decreased since last year for Clinton, Camanche, Calamus-Wheatland, Delwood and Northeast. From there, the districts determine where to set local property tax levies.

Senate Study Bill 2132 was approved 11-5 and moved to the Senate calendar. As is, it simply states that the General Assembly will establish the state percentage for growth for the upcoming school year during this legislative session.

"This is a shell bill," said Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, who chaired the subcommittee putting forth the legislation. "The governor has recommended a 2.5% increase for 2024-25, which would raise the state cost per pupil $191."

He later added that would increase per pupil funding to $7,826, which would be $62.3 million more from the general fund.

"In my opinion, in discussing with others who are working on budget issues, we have too many bills that I think many of us in this room would like to see passed but they have a price tag with them that would have a positive impact on schools. Until we get those nailed down it's going to be very difficult to accurately make an assessment of where SSA needs to be right now."

Among the legislation is Gov. Kim Reynolds' proposed changes to area education agencies as well as increasing teacher salaries. Equity funding is also an issue being worked on, he said.

Evans acknowledged that the statutory deadline to set the growth number is Feb. 8, and while he'd love make that deadline, he doubted it would happen.

"This is completely unhelpful with regard to planning for next year's school year," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. "School boards and school superintendents are right now trying to lay out a plan for hiring teachers, funding books or computer technology or other things that they have to pay for to deliver for our kids next year. And to go without a date means that they are flying blind right now. This is unconscionable that we can't allow them enough notice so that they can actually get to their work in a serious fashion."

He noted that the law requires school districts to hold hearings on their overall tax rate by March 15, which is effectively March 5 since districts have to post notice of the meetings 10 days prior. After the hearing, district cannot raise the levies.

Quirmbach, who formerly chaired the Senate Education Committee, advocated for changing that process so districts have 30 days after the SSA is passed into law. He added that it used to be the case that the Legislature gave districts a year-and-a-half notice of what the SSA number would be.

Iowa legislature needs to put kids first, he said.

Evans, who had been a school superintendent in Iowa from 2003-2019 when he retired, said he knows some superintendents and that he never had a problem putting together school budgets whether Democrats or Republicans were in charge. But before he said that, he lauded Republicans' commitment to public schools.

"Senate Republicans are committed to providing responsible sustainable funding for local school districts," he said. "Since taking the trifecta in 2016, state spending for K-12 schools increased $563 million from the general fund from FY 2017 to FY 2024, and we followed through on those commitments, never backing down, never taking money away after the fact.

"We started the SSA conversation without a specific number so that we can be sure to take into account the education budget and the state budget as a whole.v This does not cut out the voices of Iowans or the minority party. The question is open and we've been having those discussions and we will continue to receive public input."

Evans added that when the Democrats controlled the Legislature and the gubernatorial branch, they "never fully funded" education from fiscal year 2008 to 2011.

"Trying to look at one number to determine how committed Senate Republicans are to funding our public schools is a gross misrepresentation of our commitment," he said, adding that the state funds schools in a variety of ways beyond the SSA.