Published: November 02, 2009 03:01 pm      

Another try — 11/03/09

Legislators ponder changing how local schools are funded

The recent rash of school closings because of the flu has led to legislative proposals to change the way Kentucky calculates the amount of state funds local districts receive. It is an idea that has generated much discussion among legislators for at least 20 years — but no action. Will it be any different in 2010? Don’t bet on it.

Currently, school districts receive the bulk of their state money based on the daily attendance of students. That has long led some districts to close schools whenever they fear a higher than usual number of students will be absent. The reasons can vary from the flu, to slightly inclement weather or the threat of bad weather, to the opening games of state basketball tournaments.

The latest proposal aimed at reducing the number of days in which schools are called off comes from Senate President David Williams, R- Burkesville. Williams proposes basing state funds on the daily attendance rates from previous years.

While there is some merit to Williams’ proposal in that school districts would know how much state funding they will receive at the beginning of the school year, it also could punish schools that have a significant increase in enrollment from the previous year and reward those schools that have seen a sharp decline in enrollment.

A better proposal is one that has been discussed before and that this newspaper endorsed many years ago: Base state funding on daily enrollment instead of daily attendance for a portion of each school year. Proposals have varied from allowing schools to base funding on enrollment instead of attendance for up to a month each school year to shorter periods, say 10 to 15 days.

While we are not ready to endorse Williams’ specific proposal, we do agree with him when he says local school officials should base their decisions to cancel classes on what is best for the students, not finances. Unfortunately, the current funding method encourages school districts to cancel classes simply because they fear they will lose too much state money because a higher than usual number of students are likely to be absent. Amending the way schools are funded would give school districts the flexibility they need in deciding when to call off classes.

That being said, Williams’ concern about districts calling off classes for the flu simply because of the money they would lose from a high rate of absenteeism may be unfounded. The most effective way of stopping a flu epidemic in a school is to cancel classes for a few days. Instead of basing the decision to cancel school on money, local school officials may be trying to slow the spread of the disease.