Franklin County Schools asks for more funding
Ahead of Monday’s county commission meeting, Franklin County Schools are making it clear that it needs more funding going into next school year.
The county manager’s budget recommendation includes 24,177,862 for Franklin County Schools.
That’s more than 4 million dollars less than the school district initially asked for, which was $28,328,192.
“We have really asked for what we need,” superintendent Rhonda Schuhler said.
The county has consistently increased funding for Franklin County Schools. This year, the recommended budget would add $766,884 in current expense funding.
However, Schuhler said the school district is feeling the effects of inflation and a growing population. She said says the district needs at least $3.4 million in current expense funding. Otherwise, she says it could have impacts on athletics, STEM programs, and even teacher supplemental pay.
“We’re going to have to go the table and make some really tough decisions that have the potential to impact our programming,” Schuhler said.
The district also requested $3 million in capital outlay funds for things like facility maintenance. The recommended budget includes $1.5 million.
“Education funding has been the most challenging topic to address,” county manager Kim Denton said.
She said the county is growing and money has been allocated to that.
“In Franklin County, funding for county services has grown because the population of Franklin County has grown, demand for county services has grown,” Denton said.
She said county leaders need to properly analyze the funding requests each year, taking the state laws into account.
“A request that increases funding in a single year by 15.6% or $3.4M without sufficient analysis is an irresponsible action that may not be in the best long-term interest of Franklin County taxpayers,” Denton said.
She mentioned the growth in charter school enrollment. Traditional and public schools combined, the district is expecting to have at least 10,780 students next school year.
“When you increase funding, but you don’t increase that proportional to the growth of students, then those students who are being served are getting a smaller piece of the pie,” Schuhler said.
County commissioner Mark Speed said he plans to propose an amendment to the budget on Monday.
“I don’t see any room for cuts,” he said. “Education is the most important thing that we can offer our citizens. It is a basic opportunity to our children.”
