Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
The Hurley School District is one of 45 percent of Wisconsin’s districts that will see state aid shrink for the 2018-’19 school year.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction said state aid will be down by $16,902 for the Hurley district, from $2,546,628 to $2,529,726.
The DPI has certified amounts each public school district will receive from the $4.656 billion appropriated for general state aid for 2018-’19.
Overall, it amounts to a $72.75 million (1.6 percent) increase in general state aids compared to last year.
General aid is based on a school aid formula that takes into account districts with declining enrollment, such as Hurley.
Nearby Mellen will see an increase in state aids from $1,815,249 to $2,023,589, or $208,340 more.
Some property-rich districts, such as Mercer, receive no general state aid.
Ashland will see a healthy increase, from $15,581,849 to $15,946,252.
On the other hand, Maple will lose $139,104, from $5,413,133 to $5,274,209.
Roughly 55 percent of the state’s public school districts (230 of 422) will receive more general state aid, the DPI said.
General aid is based on 2017-’18 audited numbers that include student membership, property values and eligible expenditures.
School membership, which differs from enrollment, increased by 472 full-time equivalent students statewide, totaling 855,804 for 2017-’18.
Additionally, nearly all districts will have 1.5 percent of their aid deducted, an estimated $71.5 million, to pay for the 8,240 FTE pupils enrolled in 24 independent charter schools.
Shared costs per pupil, a main factor in the school aid formula, include the operating and debt costs of a school district. Shared costs range from $26,122 in the North Lakeland (K-8) School District in Manitowish Waters to $8,296 in the Crivitz School District.
The statewide average shared cost per pupil for 2017-’18 was $10,810.
Changes in property valuations are another factor that impacts whether a district receives more or less general state aid than the prior school year.
Property valuations per pupil range from $9,373,200 in North Lakeland to $188,400 in Beloit.
Beloit receives general state aid that covers 83.1 percent of its eligible shared costs, while northern schools, once at 67 percent, are now more in the range of 30 percent.
There are 21 districts, like Mercer, that receive no equalization aid because their property wealth exceeds $1.9 million per pupil.
General aid totals do not include per pupil categorical aid amounts, which are based on a three-year average of third Friday in September memberships. That aid is $654 per pupil for the 2018-’19 school year, estimated at $549 million, and will be paid in March.
