It is hard to imagine that people are so hard-hearted and now feel that if you don’t agree with them you might as well go to hell. Whatever happened to civil discussion and at least trying to see a situation from another person’s point of view?
Admittedly, a part of the problem with the consolidated high school and all the dealings that went with it, like a bond issue, were not communicated to the community properly at first. However, if you disagree with some of the opponents of a consolidated high school, you get personally attacked. Been there and done that.
Members of the school board are also coming under attack, which has to make them wonder whether it’s worth it to try to help the community if they’re going to be the target of horrible comments and derision. It surely isn’t a very Christian way of treating people.
The problem, in our opinion, is the lack of openness and transparency. I think the school board sees that now and will practice being more open to the community.
We are encouraged to see the school budget information presented by Joanna Maddox at the recent board meeting. This was the most comprehensive budget report that has been given to the board and made public that we have seen in many years.
Enrollment in public schools is on the decline and Covid-19 had some impact on where enrollment is now. In 2013 enrollment figures for the county were 4,116 students. By 2019 the numbers had dropped to 3,614 students, and in fiscal school year 2022 3,093 students are enrolled in public schools. Several factors are involved in the drop. We know that classes at Simpson Academy have been at maximum capacity. A record number of students are enrolled in home schooling. In addition to Covid, a variety of reasons have created a shift in student population.
The county has a current assessed tax valuation of $213,070,887 so that means a mill without exception is worth approximately $213,000. The new valuation with growth is expected to be in the $220,000 range. The current millage rate to support the school system is 42.77 mills and 2.5 mills to service existing debt, which is a total of 45.27 mills going to support public education. That is slightly over 50 percent of the annual county budget. And millage is only one of the sources for public education.
Average daily attendance is another key factor in funding from the state government. Counties are funded by the average number of students educated. Simpson County averages 2,828 students in class per day, or 92 percent attendance. The average cost of educating a student statewide was $5,874 for last year and $6,532 for this current year.
Simpson County’s cost per student last year was $14,203, but this was during the Covid environment and a lot of that funding was one time funding like all new computers and hot spots. Those funds are no longer available. Simpson County has had higher costs than many like size schools in the past, but they must teach to certain standards, and if you don’t have the student population you have a higher per student cost.
Many have commented that our central office is too top heavy with salaries, but there is also a formula for that, and guess what? The district falls within the parameters. Administrative salaries for the central office are limited to $150,000 and no more than 4 percent of the total budget. For fiscal year 2023 it would allow for up to $1,376,148 in total office salaries. Our figure is $531 thousand below the maximum.
Instruction gets 48.8 percent of the total budget. The county office has 22 employees; 13 are funded by the state, one is funded through federal funds for Title One, four are funded through federal government for special services, three are funded federally for child nutrition and one is through federal funds from Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Funds.
The district has 274 teachers and 63 teaching assistants, 50 bus drivers and 51 child nutritionists. The building department has 27 employees and Support Services 73.
The district is required to have 7 percent of its annual budget in reserve to cover emergency situations. Our school district has been able to amass $14 million in reserve.
While some issues have surfaced about transparency in the past, we feel this is a good disclosure of information and goes a long way towards achieving transparency.
