If the current version of the state budget is approved, Olentangy Local Schools could lose approximately $4.6 million in expected state funding during the 2009-10 school year and an additional $8 million during the 2010-11 school year.
“This school year was the first time we received any increase in state funding to offset the costs associated with our increasing enrollment,” said district treasurer Rebecca Jenkins. “Now, we are looking at losing those additional funds and even taking a decrease – all while our enrollment continues to grow.”
Olentangy Local Schools has been the fastest-growing district in the state for the last six years, and the latest Development Committee report projects that the district will gain approximately 1,000 additional students in the next year. This extreme growth factor has put Olentangy in a difficult funding situation for several years. The most current district enrollment count stands at 14,048 students. However, until this school year, the district had been receiving the same amount of state funding as in 2004 when enrollment was just 8,521.
“Under the current proposal,” said Jenkins, “our funding would remain flat for next year and then go down 2% the following year. But, during that same time frame, we expect to gain as many as 2,000 more students.”
“This is one of the top school districts in the state,” said Superintendent Wade Lucas, Ed.D. “I believe that once the legislators understand our unique situation they will do the right thing for our students and for our taxpayers.”
Lucas and Jenkins, along with Olentangy Board of Education President Julie Wagner Feasel, have been meeting with lawmakers and statewide education groups to push for a provision in the new legislation that would help districts dealing with extreme growth. The proposal reads:
Any school district experiencing an enrollment growth rate from one year to the next greater than 2.5%, with a minimum of 200 additional students, shall receive an additional amount of State aid for each additional student in excess of 200 equal to the annual per pupil State aid provided to chartered non-public schools.
If adopted, this provision would help Olentangy offset some of the losses associated with the new funding system. For example, Olentangy’s enrollment has grown by approximately 1,000 students each year for the last several years. If that growth rate continues, under this new proposal, the district would receive additional funding for 800 of those 1,000 new students. The proposal calls for that additional funding to be based on the amount of state aid given to non-public charter schools. Since such schools currently receive $940 per student each year, Olentangy would receive approximately $752,000 in additional funding.
“One of the reasons behind changing the state’s system of school funding was to take some of the burden off of the local taxpayer,” said Lucas. “The Olentangy community has been extremely supportive of this district; we have to go to bat for our taxpayers and make sure they are well represented in this process.”