Funding lawsuit worries Cape schools

Nearly half of Missouri's 524 school districts have joined a lawsuit against the state's funding system, but Cape Girardeau public school officials are worried the suit may hurt their district.

The Cape Girardeau School District is the only K-12 school district in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Scott counties that hasn't joined the Committee for Educational Equality, a group challenging the equity and adequacy of the state's current method of funding public education.

Cape Girardeau superintendent Mark Bowles said he hesitates to support the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday, because of the results of a similar legal battle in 1993.

"I'm wary of the lawsuit because I see the likelihood that it could do more harm than good for this district," Bowles said.

In 1993, a Cole County judge ordered that the legislature revamp the state's funding mechanism, and districts such as Cape Girardeau with a high local tax base were designated as "hold harmless."

Hold-harmless school districts receive more state money than they are entitled to under the complex foundation formula currently used to distribute education funds. However, their funding level hasn't increased since 1993, unlike schools not categorized hold harmless.

Bowles said while the 1993 funding overhaul hurt his district, he feels another court-ordered change could be even worse.

Helpful opinions

Not all of Missouri's 70 hold-harmless school districts view the new lawsuit as harmful. In fact, 11 districts with that designation have joined the CEE.

When the Portageville School District in New Madrid County signed on last year, the district was not hold harmless. But because funding levels have decreased this year, the district now falls into that category. Either way, Portageville superintendent Kerwin Urhahn says his district would have joined the lawsuit.

"There are two sides to hold harmless," Urhahn said. "Without it, we would be getting $40,000 from the state under the formula because our local assessed valuation has gone down."

The Bunker School District in Reynolds County has been hold harmless since the 1993 lawsuit and was among the first to join the CEE.

"If you have an assessed valuation that constantly grows, hold harmless is not a bad thing," said Bunker superintendent Clint Johnston. "But in the current economy, hold-harmless districts are losing state money and local tax money."

That's what officials in Cape Girardeau say is happening in their district, and it's the reason they haven't jumped on board with the CEE. The 1993 lawsuit, and subsequent establishment of hold-harmless districts, was intended to give more state aid to districts with a lower local property tax base. But for the past two years, the local assessed valuation has been stagnant or seen only minimal increases, which means the district has received several hundred thousand dollars less in funding.

Without the hold-harmless label, Cape Girardeau would receive even less money under the foundation formula. District officials say it isn't just the hold-harmless designation they want changed, it's the entire funding system that allows for that designation.

"For 10 years now, our funding levels have been frozen without an increase for cost of living or increased mandates," Bowles said. "The 1993 lawsuit did not help this community. I'm concerned that a court-ordered outcome will again have a questionable impact on us."

Urhahn acknowledged there is a chance hold harmless districts could end up in worse shape with a change to the formula.

"I guess that's a risk you take when you ask for the court to intervene," Urhahn said. "But as a whole, the adequacy issue much be addressed."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 128