During their regular meeting held Thursday, Sept. 13, Superintendent Jim Ruse talked to the Gallatin R-5 Board of Education about the recently lost legal battle waged by about 250 school districts against the state’s school funding formula.
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The Committee for Educational Equality (CEE) filed suit in Missouri in January 2004 claiming the state’s school funding system is unconstitutional. An August ruling by Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan upheld the way the state funds schools, saying the formula is constitutional.
“It’s a huge slap in the face to rural schools and rural students,” Mr. Ruse said. “Rural students are being denied equal access to state money — if equity has anything to do with it. The judge ruled equity wasn’t an issue. In fact, he actually stated that social and economic conditions in Missouri are not legal or illegal issues.”
Mr. Ruse said the 2004 lawsuit was an attempt to try to gain an equal playing field for rural students. It was not the first time such an effort has been made. In the early 90’s the first lawsuit was filed to “level up” those school districts with fewer resources. In January 1993, Judge Byron Kinder ruled in favor of the CEE, ruling that “a child living in a poor school district must have the same opportunity to receive substantially the same education as a child living in a rich district.”
“The new formula is a complete reversal in philosophy,” Mr. Ruse said.
The case has been appealed and will now go to the Missouri Supreme Court.
“It will have a better chance of being decided there,” said Mr. Ruse. He noted that it took three years to get to the circuit court and it would probably take another three years to get it to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Ruse said that while some school will fare better with the new formula, other schools will be in trouble. The state will make allowable differences for schools with a student population under 350, and a dollar value modifier skews the formula to favor some schools.
“We didn’t pick up either of those two in the formula,” Mr. Ruse said. “Schools, like Gallatin, with a student body of between 350-1,300 will not be able to keep up.”
Mr. Ruse stated that as an example, R-5 would have received $100,000-$200,000 in new money, but under the new formula will receive a negative $25,000 this year.
“What the state is telling us is ‘You’re on your own,’” Mr. Ruse said. “The state has literally created some haves and have nots. There are too many losers in this formula and we’re one of them.”
In other business at the Sept. 13 meeting, bills in the amount of $323,400 were approved for payment.
The board went over the ledger report. The school has an investment of $800,000 with a range of 5.3% to 5.4% interest.
Kevin Hudson presented the 06-07 audit report; it was a clean report with no findings.
The board reviewed a greenhouse grant this year for ag students. The 28 x 40 foot building will be located south of the ag building, on the other side of the parking lot. The building cost around $33,000 to purchase and put up which was covered by a 75/25 building grant and a 50/50 construction grant, which included site preparation, electrical, plumbing, etc.
Mr. Ruse reported on a federal grant of $31,000. The REAP grant is out of Baltimore and is a rural economic grant to be used at the elementary school for technology improvement.