MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: SCHOOL OFFICIALS EYE DRASTIC INCOME CHANGE

Cape Girardeau schools stand to gain $1.6 million in new state money, according to education department projections. But Business Manager Larry Dew said Thursday he's not making plans to spend that money yet.

Instead, Cape Girardeau school officials are asking a million dollar question about the new Missouri school aid package.

This week, the state education department has distributed its first projections of the impact of the legislation since it has been signed into law. According to the computer printout, Cape will gain an additional $1.6 million.

Cape Girardeau now receives $742 per pupil in state money. After the four-year phase-in, the district will receive $1,154, an increase of $412 per pupil.

This is the third simulation of the impact of the legislation the district has received. The impact to Cape Girardeau has varied by a million dollars in those three simulations.

The first, Dew said, showed the district receiving an additional $1.2 million. But then, as the bill left the house, Cape Girardeau was to gain just $687,287. Now, the education department says the district will get an additional $1.6 million.

"We have to find out why we have seen such dramatic swings in funding," Dew said. "What is different. What has changed. We've got to find the answer to this million dollar question."

School officials will meet with state education officials Tuesday in Cape Girardeau. After that, Dew said, he will be meeting with state officials privately to get some answers.

"We really won't know until November or December," Dew said. That's when state funding actually will be calculated.

"I expect that when we see the actual money, it will decrease (from the $1.6 million). We have seen dramatic differences, and we've got to know why."

In the meantime, Dew said budget decisions concerning the projected new money are on hold.

About $44 per pupil of the anticipated increase was budgeted as part of salary increases approved by the Board of Education last month. "We were very conservative," he said.

The remainder of any additional state funding would be referred to a district-wide committee called New Funds to determine how the money would be spent, Dew said.

Decreasing class size, restoring items cut from this year's budget and increasing teacher salaries are among possibilities, Dew said.