MOST AREA SCHOOLS BENEFIT BY PROPOSAL

Most area school districts would benefit from increased state aid under a foundation formula proposed by lawmakers.

But that's little consolation to Nell Holcomb School Superintendent David Fuemmeler. His school district would see its state aid drop by nearly 31 percent.

"Our district stands to lose over $400 per eligible pupil at a time when we have struggled to increase local taxes and gain local support.

"It seems a little unfair at this time that we are now faced with probably at least a couple hundred thousand dollar reduction in state money," said Fuemmeler.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said that a legislative analysis shows that in the six-county 27th Senate District of Southeast Missouri, only two school districts stand to lose state aid: Nell Holcomb and Scott County Central at Morley.

"Overall, the (Senate) district looks good in that formula," said Kinder.

But he expressed concern about the possible decrease in state aid for Nell Holcomb.

"I am going to be asking what's driving that and what can be done to rectify it," he said.

The legislation to establish a new state funding system for the schools has been drawn up by a special joint committee of the Missouri House and Senate.

But the issue is far from decided, said state Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau.

Gov. Mel Carnahan has proposed raising state taxes $365 million and imposing new local levies to provide more funding for the state's public schools.

Kasten said the school funding issue may ultimately rest with the courts.

State lawmakers are trying to develop a more equitable foundation formula in light of a circuit judge's ruling that the current school funding system is unconstitutional. The state is appealing the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Under the legislation now being considered by the Missouri Senate, the Nell Holcomb School District north of Cape Girardeau would see its state aid drop by more than $460 per eligible pupil, from $1,504 to $1,040, according to one legislative analysis.

The school district has about 380 eligible pupils, including students who attend high school in the Cape Girardeau or Jackson school districts. Nell Holcomb is an elementary school district, kindergarten through eighth grade. The district pays tuition so its students can attend high school in Cape Girardeau or Jackson.

The district's enrollment stands at about 400, including 100 high school students, Fuemmeler said. Eligibility figures are lower than total enrollment because they take into account student attendance.

Fuemmeler said the drop in state aid would be significant for the small school district, which ope~r~ates on an annual budget of about $1.6 million.

He said the apparent reason for the change is that the school district recently has seen a substantial rise in its assessed valuation, essentially because of the opening of the M&W manufacturing plant.

"We went from $13 million to $26 million in assessed valuation in a two-year period," said Fuemmeler.

Nell Holcomb receives about $550,000 in state aid, which reflects about 40 percent of the district's budget, the superintendent said.

About 60 percent of its budget used to come from state aid. But as the district's assessed valuation has grown, the percentage has changed. Now about 60 percent of its budget comes from local revenue, Fuemmeler estimated.

"It seems to me it (the new formula) is penalizing those districts who have worked to gain local resources and have been successful at acquiring some industry to their area," he said.

"It is kind of like a Robin Hood syndrome, I think, to some extent," said Fuemmeler.

While state aid to Nell Holcomb would decrease, it's projected that the district would have increased local tax revenue. That would result in about a $500 increase in total revenue per eligible student, from $3,776 to $4,279, the legislative analysis shows.

The formula change is expected to include a "hold harmless" provision designed to protect those districts who stand to lose state aid. "It seems like they are going to allow districts to raise tax levies to pick up any lost revenue," said Fuemmeler.

But with a total tax rate of $3.24, the superintendent said he feels the taxpayers are already providing a strong level of funding for the school system.

Fuemmeler said he has no quarrel with the idea of an equitable funding formula. "But to decrease state funding (for Nell Holcomb) by 30 percent, to me, has no fairness whatsoever."

In contrast, Cape Girardeau stands to see a 40 percent increase in state aid; Jackson, a 65 percent hike; Delta, a 31 percent increase; Oak Ridge, 35 percent; Perry, 59 percent; Scott City, 21 percent; Chaffee, 54 percent; and Kelly at Benton, 64 percent.

"We are pleased," said Larry Dew, business manager for the Cape Girardeau Public Schools.

The school district could see its state aid per eligible pupil increase from $776 to $1,088, a $312 increase.

Dew said the district currently gets about $2.8 million in state aid, which amounts to only a small part of its $20 million budget.

But the proposed formula would mean about $1 million in additional revenue, which could be used for teacher salaries and the hiring of more teachers, he said.

But Dew cautioned that such projections are far from certain. "You have to watch all this legislation by computer printout. This is just really the first step forward."

Some states, he said, have spent four to six years trying to develop fair funding formulas.

The Jackson School District would be one of the bigger winners under the proposed formula. "It would be a significant increase over what we are getting right now," said Superintendent Wayne Maupin.

Jackson would see its state aid per eligible pupil increase by more than $700, to $1,814.

Currently about 37 percent of the school district's $11 million budget comes from state aid.

Maupin said school officials have felt for some time that the district has received "the short end of the stick" under the current funding system.

Additional state funding would be particularly welcome, he said. "We have needed positions in this district right now that are not being addressed." The district needs more teachers, he said, to handle the growing enrollment.

But he too cautioned that any funding changes are likely to be phased in over time.

"We are not doing any budgeting based on the simulations we have seen," said Maupin.

"It's encouraging to look at it, but we are not holding our breath," said Maupin, "and I know it is not going to take place overnight."