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School asks for parent help with state aid, ISL vote
News · February 26, 2015
Parents received last week an e-mailed letter from West Branch Community Schools, asking for their help to convince legislators to provide “adequate and timely” funding of schools.
In the Feb. 19 letter, signed by Superintendent Kevin Hatfield, is a list of how much money Iowa and several nearby states spend on each child in school, also known as “per-pupil spending.”
For additional information, we included some other nearby states and the U.S. average in a chart that accompanies this article.
Also included here are charts to show the graduation rates and average ACT scores of the same states.
West Branch lost the equivalent of 11.5 pupils this year, which translates into about $73,000 assuming the state makes no changes to the current funding formula.
The state House proposed a 1.25-percent increase in state aid, while the Senate proposed a 4-percent increase. State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said both numbers are starting points for negotiations. Hatfield said he is concerned about the 1.25-percent figure.
“We are taking additional cost-containment measures to ease the burden on the District’s General Fund,” he wrote in the letter.
Hatfield said the school district wants to keep property tax rates around $14 per $1,000 of assessed valuation while maintaining quality programming.
The superintendent notes that West Branch has added Science Technology Engineering Math/robotics, Project Lead The Way, health occupations, Leader In Me, additional Spanish, fifth-grade band and more college credit opportunities.
“We believe we have improved the learning opportunities for all of our students,” he writes. “We want to maintain this momentum.”
The letter also encourages voters to pass the Instructional Support Levy on the April 7 ballot. The levy has been in place for 20 years and the school district is asking for another 10-year extension.
Right now, the levy brings in about $390,000, about 4 to 5 percent of the general fund. The school can use the ISL for up to 10 percent of its general fund.
“Without this levy, the district will be forced to make reductions to our academic programming,” he writes.
The school district also provided three draft letters parents may forward to legislators to support increasing state funding.
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