Praji Ghosh
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The St. Joseph School District’s Finance Committee met Tuesday afternoon to review a series of proposed budget reduction measures developed by one of its administrators.
While the meeting covered several key topics, one of the main points of discussion centered around staffing — part of the district’s larger conversation about strengthening internal controls and maintaining financial balance.
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations, Robert Hedgecorth, also walked committee members through how attendance and enrollment directly affect the district’s state funding.
Hedgecorth explained that Missouri’s current funding formula takes into account several factors — including student enrollment, attendance rates and academic performance, along with local contributions from taxes and other sources.
“So the hiring role that you have here with your attendance, and some other calculations and including what your IP percentages or ll percentage, your previous less percentage, all multiplied on the SAT, subtract out your local effort. And that’s what you get for your funding formula. So enrollment is definitely a factor in that,” Hedgecorth said.
In simpler terms, the more students who are enrolled and consistently attending school, the more funding the district is likely to receive from the state.
However, that formula could soon be changing. State officials are exploring possible adjustments that would divide funding evenly, according to Hedgecorth. The funding division would be 50% based on enrollment and 50% on attendance.
“Something that they did with the funding formula is they’ve changed it to where it is now 10% enrollment, 90% attendance in the waiting,” said Hedgecorth. “It’s going to land at 50/50, where now they’re going to try to get to have enrollment, have attendance and kind of balance it out.”
In addition to funding discussions, Hedgecorth also highlighted how district programs, such as free and reduced lunch options, can open doors for additional sponsorships and grant opportunities.
He added, expanding summer school programs could also be a smart move for the district, not only offering more learning opportunities for students but also helping increase financial support tied to student participation.
“(Something) I’ve seen a lot of districts do is charged activity if you participate in an extracurricular. I’ve seen some districts that played it for free lunch, if you’re eligible for…for those students. I’ve seen something charged off that it was, that’s definitely one that would increase our revenue,” Hedgecorth said.
The Finance Committee will continue to review cost-saving strategies and funding possibilities as the district works toward balancing its budget for the upcoming school year.
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