Every two years, the governor approves a biennial budget which dictates the amount of funding given to school districts. We receive funding from federal, state, and local sources, but state funding is our largest revenue category. The graph below shows all Clermont County schools and their percent of state and local revenue versus total revenue, but more importantly, this graph demonstrates why our district is so dependent upon the outcome of the state’s biennial budget. Less than 20% of operating revenue comes from our local taxpayers, while the remaining 74% is provided by the state.
The key funding provisions included in the new budget that affect our district are outlined below:
- State funding/base aide has been frozen. This means that for the next two years, we will receive the same funding that we did in 2018-2019. Similar to how our home expenses increase each year, so does the school district’s expenses. Healthcare alone increased 14% over the prior year, despite our efforts to curtail these increases. Therefore, flat funding for two years is concerning.
- Newly created Student Wellness Aid will be given to all districts. Although receiving new grant funds is usually a good thing, the challenging part with Student Wellness Funds is that we are mandated to spend this new funding inside the Ohio Department of Education’s scripted choices.
- Revenue deductions for districts having sharp increases in public utility valuations have been removed from the law. Our district’s state funding was reduced by $400,000 last year due to the new power station on Chilo-Cemetery Road. After conversations with our State Representative, Doug Green, and our contacts at the Ohio Department of Education, the law was changed. Please thank Doug Green the next time you see him! Although this change will not give us our $400,000 back, it will keep us from getting a reduction in funding in the future.