Latest round of governor’s state funding reductions expected to be ‘significant’ for R-2, area schools

By Roxie Murphy, Staff Writer
Posted 6/3/20

Gasconade County R-2 Superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner said Monday that while he doesn’t know enough about Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s June 1 budget restrictions of $209 million to say how …

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Latest round of governor’s state funding reductions expected to be ‘significant’ for R-2, area schools

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Gasconade County R-2 Superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner said Monday that while he doesn’t know enough about Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s June 1 budget restrictions of $209 million to say how much the district will be affected, he does know it will be significant.

“We are calculating the numbers now,” Garner said Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., about 30 minutes after the governor’s office sent a press release. “What we are trying to determine now is how much, based on what he said. How much additional withholding is that going to be when you start changing and plugging in numbers?”

Parson began a round of withholdings in May from the basic Foundation Formula that is used to fund education and the Classroom Trust program. Districts were advised to reevaluate their priorities to accommodate significant additional withholdings prior to the June 1 release.

Garner said he is waiting for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to give the schools an idea of how much they will be affected. In the meantime, he also learned that the state would not be paying out the expected transportation reimbursement in June.

“That withholding is in addition to what the $123 million of the Foundation Formula was going to be,” Garner said. “There is some other numbers there that I am trying to wait and see what that is going to look like. We got withheld in May and now getting a withholding in June.”

Garner said he would like some clarification on the withholdings before he gives out any numbers about how it will affect the district.

Reimbursements are decided in May and June before school starts and then are distributed over a 12 month period.

“We got withheld in May and are now being withheld in June,” Garner said.

Garner said the reductions translate into 13 percent less funding for transportation this year.

In May 2019, transportation was allotted to receive $107 million dollars, but with reductions, they are now expected to receive $93 million dollars, Garner said.

“If we don’t receive all of our money from the state, we have to figure out what that means for us,” he said.

A storm on the horizon

Maries County R-2 Superintendent Dr. Lenice Basham in Belle shared at their board meeting on May 28 that she was told to expect a 10 percent overall reduction in state funding.

“For us, that is somewhere around $300,000,” Basham said.

In May the state withheld all of the Classroom Trust funds which were set in May 2019. Maries R-2 had received $25,523.25 in the Classroom Trust in 2019. In May and June 2020 the district is expected to will receive zero dollars.

Parson said in his Monday press release that expenditure restrictions due to the economic impact of COVID-19 is “unlike anything we have ever experienced before, and we are now expecting significant revenue declines.”

Between March and April, Missouri saw a decline of over 300,000 jobs, a decrease of about 10 percent, which makes Missouri’s unemployment levels back to numbers last seen in 1996 when unemployment was at 9.7, according to the governor’s press release. Prior to the economic shutdown, employment numbers were at a low 3.9 percent.

“We have already had to withhold over $220 million dollars due to budget concerns resulting from COVID-19,” Parson said. “In addition to these restrictions, we will be restricting another $209 million dollars in June.”

That $209 million in restrictions joins the April budget reductions of $180 million and $47 million respectively.

District superintendents were expected to meet with Parson on June 2 (Tuesday) to clearly designate what the percentage of withholdings will be and how it will impact each district.

“Our reserve is for a rainy day — and we are getting ready for a storm that districts have never seen before,” Basham told the Maries R-2 board. “We anticipate that next year it will be equally significant.”

A breakdown of the new $209 million in reductions includes over $41 million from the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development and over $131 million from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.