State Aid Reductions Continue.. and Even Accelerate!

   In January, public schools across Oklahoma received a notice from the State Department of Education which read: "For Financial Support of Schools (State Aid formula funding), we are only able to pay 8.47 percent this month instead of the scheduled 9 percent (a 0.53 percent payment reduction)." So, instead of a cumulative 54 percent of the annual allocation ($3,153,119) received, Blanchard Public Schools received only 53.47 percent of the annual allocation ($3,122,171), a reduction of $30,348. While $30,348 may not seem like a lot of money, it is the approximate annual salary of one support employee. Since our expected annual state allocation ($5,839,109) has already been budgeted through June 30, we must find a way to cover the loss. Our Blanchard Board of Education must make hard decisions on exactly what to cut. Since teacher and support contracts have already been obligated for the year based on expected revenues, salaries cannot be reduced to cover the loss. The only answer to the funding reduction is to start over, and re-budget. Our board of education has done this many times over the past 8 years and worked miracles, so there is no reason to believe they can't do it one more time. But before anyone jumps to the conclusion that our school board will pull the rabbit out of the hat one more time...
   Just two days ago, Oklahoma public schools received a second memorandum from the State Department of Education which read: "For the month of February, there continues to be a cash flow issue in the total funding available for the State Aid formula payment...The total revenue collections (from the legislature) for the February State Aid payment are approximately $18.1 million short of the funds needed to make the scheduled payment in full and have the total accumulated allocation distribution at 63 percent. For financial support of schools... we are only able to pay 8.02 percent this month instead of the scheduled 9 percent (a 0.98 percent payment reduction). The February accumulated percentage of the latest allocation, therefore, is 62.02 percent.The reduction from an expected payment of $556,467 to $499,243 means that Blanchard received $57,224 less than budgeted. This total represents the annual salary of two support employees. If this downward spiral continues, Blanchard Public Schools could stand to lose (with 4 payments remaining) approximately $343,344 by June 30, 2017. This total represents the approximate salaries of 10 teachers.
   It's certainly a dire situation that our very own Oklahoma Legislators have placed us in. I have complete confidence that our school board will continue to reduce expenditures over the next several months, in order to avert a financial catastrophe. Let's just hope they do.