Dell Rapids Public School News

02/07/2010

School Funding Message by Tom Ludens (Superintendent)

On January 19, 2011, Governor Daugaard gave his budget proposal which included a 10% reduction in State Aid to the K-12 schools. If this budget proposal is accepted and passed by our legislature, this level of reduction would be devastating to schools in South Dakota. Given the fact that the Governor's budget is not the budget and it is early in the legislative session, many things can, and will, happen between now and the end of the session, March 28th. There are many unanswered questions at this point and the intent of this article is to share information on how the 10% reduction will impact education here in Dell Rapids and to seek your assistance.

As we do each year during the budgeting process the school works to align district expenditures with revenues the District receives. The budget prioritization process begins after the legislative session in March. It is completely premature to determine what will and will not stay if, in fact, the school has to endure a 10% decrease which would be $559,000 in general fund revenue. All things will be considered when reducing expenditures, including reductions in supplies, personnel and programs. To increase revenues the school district could consider a property tax opt out as proposed by Governor Daugaard. The Dell Rapids School District does not have a "rainy day fund" as described by Governor Daugaard. Just as the state's $1.6 billion cash flow and trust funds have designated purposes, so does the Dell Rapids School District's $1.1 million reserve account. Our account would not carry us through a full year.

Many things can happen between now and the end of the legislative session. The big question will be; what can be done to spare k-12 education funding? Our legislators need to hear over and over from as many voices as possible how devastating the 10% reduction will be to our school district.

Contact information for our legislators can be found at http://legis.state.sd.us. Our District 25 legislators are:

We have between now and March 28th to be heard!