Financial concerns top R-5 board of education's meeting agenda

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

Wednesday's Nevada R-5 Board of Education meeting had few items on the agenda in anticipation that the first item, the proposed tax levy increase measure, would take up considerable time.

"We have a fairly short agenda," Chris Ellis, board president, said. "We thought we had much more to discuss but recent events, which some of you are aware of, changed that."

The changes Ellis referred to come from the Missouri legislature. One of the items that changes the situation is Senate Bill 287, a proposal that would change the way schools in Missouri are funded.

Superintendent Ted Davis said the issue has been a constant concern for the district for a long time. "As we all know this has been THE issue for well over a year," Davis said. "Our district has made some painful accommodations to reduce our budget. We've cut 17 teachers and 18 non-certified positions; bus drivers, custodial staff, maintenance and others all of whom provide important services to our district."

Davis said that despite the strained circumstances of the district over the last three years the cuts were directed at the upper levels of the district to protect elementary students from feeling the effects of the belt-tightening.

"Our cuts have not been at the elementary level," Davis said. "They've been at the secondary level; the tech school, high school, middle school and in services. We've tried to make the cuts as quietly as possible without going to the public for help."

Davis said that under the proposed legislation, as it was currently envisioned the district would be much better off. "If SB 287 is passed in its current form the Nevada R5 district should see $2.4 million in the next few years," Davis said. "We need to keep in mind that until it is passed we don't know what the final form of the bill will look like."

Davis warned the group that the legislature could change anything in the bill at any time and that even the smallest changes could have a big impact. "Politics will probably change this formula," Davis said. "The changes will probably be about equal to the political strength of metropolitan Kansas City and Saint Louis areas."

One of the things that caused the board to reconsider putting the levy increase on the ballot a third time is that one of the provisions in the proposed legislation would limit the state's matching funds to the first $3.35 of a school district's levy.

"The way it would work is a district that passes a levy increase that stays under the proposed cap would get the two to one matching funds," Davis said. "If the levy increase went over $3.35 it would still get the benefit of the local funds but the state wouldn't match the additional funds."

Several of the board members said they would hesitate to approach the voters if they couldn't tell them the state would match local funds two to one. "When we went to the voters we told them the state would give us the matching funds," Ellis said. "I'm not sure that the average voter would think it was as good a deal without the matching funds."

The board decided to table the measure until the May meeting when it would be known what the final version of the bill would look like. "For me personally I think we should wait to go back to the patrons until we see what happens at the state level," Ellis said. "We have fund balances, I wouldn't want to spend down too far, but use some of those reserves to see us through for awhile."