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BOE, legislators talk funding, mental health
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · January 04, 2018
School vouchers, the “state penny” for building projects and mental health funding highlighted a conversation between the Board of Education and local legislators last week.
State Rep. Robert “Bobby” Kaufmann, R-Wilton, and state Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, visited the school board during its regular meeting Dec. 11 to talk about the coming legislative term.
Board members expressed opposition to providing school vouchers to families wanting to find alternatives to public schools. Board President Julie Sexton said the state already provides enough other benefits or incentives.
“There’s school choice already,” she said.
Board member Amanda Whaley said she heard of how families can get the vouchers, home school their children for a couple of months, then re-enroll their children into public schools while “pocketing $7,000.”
Dvorsky, who announced he would not seek re-election next year, said he had heard of the same thing, calling the practice “an enormous scam.”
Board member Greg Hetrick said the same thing could happen with private schools.
“After Oct. 15, the kid gets kicked out and they leave the public school with the bill,” he said.
Superintendent Kevin Hatfield said that if school vouchers pass, he would like to see a provision that requires private schools to follow the same rules and regulations as public schools.
Kaufmann vowed to fight school vouchers.
“It will not happen,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Mental health
Whaley brought up the issue of mental health funding for schools, saying Iowa’s lack of mental health facilities sends some children to facilities in Illinois, or, too often, back home when beds are full.
“(Teachers) are not social workers, they’re not psychiatrists, but they’re dealing with the kids in the trenches and our resources are getting cut,” she said.
Kaufmann agreed that the lack of mental health facilities mean “our schools and jails have become mental health hospitals.”
He noted that a state board, after four requests from the same applicant, approved a Bettendorf facility.
“They were told no three times,” he said. “The Certificate of Need board overstepped its bounds. … I hope it opens up the floodgates, because we could use two to six more.”
Kaufmann said he wants new mental health facilities to accept a certain percentage of Medicaid funding so low-income families can benefit.
Hatfield read from a document several statistics about suicide that shows many mental health problems start when children are of school age: That suicide is the No. 2 cause of death for 10- to 24-year-olds, that suicide rates for African Americans doubled since 1990, that 90 percent of children who die by suicide experienced mental illness beforehand, and that half of mental illness begins around age 14.
He said principals who dole out discipline struggle to balance that with getting certain children mental health services. Families Inc. provides some services, he said, but family insurance plans only pay so much and some low-income families cannot afford co-pays.
Dvorsky said the state used to provide nurses and counselors, but not as much as years before.
“”We’ve done a horrible job the last several years to offer these services,” he said. “The attitude in Des Moines … they don’t see that, … or they have no frame of reference. I’m just amazed.”
State penny
Hatfield said he would like to see the state allow school districts to use Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funding to supplement transportation needs.
He noted that rural districts rack up a lot more miles on buses driving from farm to farm than city schools with tightly condensed neighborhoods, so West Branch is “above average” spending money on gasoline per pupil.
“To make West Branch equitable, it would probably cost about $20 more per kid,” he said.
He also noted that West Branch benefitted with state aid by adding another four pupils to its enrollment, while 70 percent of schools served by Grant Wood Area Education Agency saw enrollment declines.
The superintendent said the state sales tax, or “state penny,” is “very beneficial to our schools.”
However, the sales tax was set in 2008 and is set to expire in 2029, so Hatfield noted school districts taking out loans may only borrow now for 12 years, rather than the full 20, since the legislature has not extended the deadline.
Kaufmann said he expects the legislature to take action on that in its 2018 term.
“That needs to happen,” he said.
Dvorsky agreed.
“We need some sort of carrot for schools with declining enrollment,” he said.
Hatfield said some argued to end the sales tax after one school used the funding to build an athletic complex. West Branch tried unsuccessfully twice this past year to pass a $19 million to $20 million bond to build additions that included a larger auditorium.
“Our (bond) gave a little to sports, but more to fine arts and (mostly) for classrooms,” he said.
Kaufmann said most schools use the sales tax revenues reasonably, so one example of abuse “is just an excuse” to end it.
Among those in the audience were Jodi Clemens of West Branch, who announced in March she would run against Kaufmann in 2018, and Janice Weiner of Coralville, who at the time was considering running to replace the retiring Dvorsky. Weiner on Dec. 18 officially announced her intention to run.
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