By Lori Ehde
Special education accounts for nearly $1.4 million of Luverne School District’s $8.7 million general fund budget.
When District Finance Officer Marlene Mann took a question from a resident about special education funding, she decided to answer for school board members as well.
At the Thursday, March 13 School Board meeting, Mann said Luverne receives nearly $900,000 in revenues to fund its special education services.
The majority of this, $721,000, comes to the district in the form of state aid.
Roughly $72,000 is compensation from area districts and Southwestern Mental Health for special ed services the district provides.
About $106,000, or 12 percent, comes in the form of federal aid.
As a side note, when the federal government started requiring schools to provide special education services, it promised to fund 40 percent of those mandated costs.
In Luverne, if federal support for special education funding increased from the current 12 percent to the promised 40 percent, the district would receive roughly $234,000 more in revenues to help fund the mandates.
On the expenditure side, Luverne School District spends nearly $1.4 million on special education services. Here’s how the expenditures break down:
Speech: $142,794. Of that, $138,094 is for salaries and benefits, and 4,700 is for supplies and equipment.
Developmentally and cognitively impaired — Mild: $183,010. Of that, $178,010 is for salaries and benefits, and 5,000 is for supplies and equipment.
Developmentally and cognitively impaired: $284,088, all of which is for salaries and benefits (for 23 people, mostly paraprofessionals).
Physically impaired: $44,800, of which $42,925 is for salaries and benefits and $1,875 is for supplies and equipment.
Deaf and hard of hearing: $1,450. The district contracts for this service.
Learning disabilities: $162,003, of which $159,403 is for salaries and benefits and $2,600 is for supplies and equipment.
Emotionally and behaviorally disabled: $76,117, of which $74,517 is for salaries and benefits and $1,600 is for supplies.
Early childhood special education (preschool): $110,053, of which $101,909 is for salaries and benefits and $8,144 is for supplies.
Special education in general: $319,164. Of this, $273,264 is for tuition for students to attend out-of-district schools, $42,000 is for the day treatment program provided by Southwestern Mental Health, and $3,900 is for supplies.
Special education transportation: $69,751, for bringing students to schools in Sioux Falls, Worthington, Faribault and special routes to Luverne.
Presenting these figures for school board members, Mann pointed to nearly $500,000 more in expenditures than revenues in the district’s special education budget.
She said some of the special ed students generate special aid reimbursements from the government, but after that’s considered, the district still covers a $383,586 gap.
As of March 2002, the district paid $245 per pupil in excess for special education.
"That’s a good part of the our budget we don’t get asked about that much," Mann said Thursday. "I wanted to show you how we realize that money and what we do with it."
Unappropriated operating funds
This led to Mann’s next topic, Luverne School District’s rapidly decreasing operating funds.
She told board members that in 1999, Luverne School District’s unappropriated operating funds balance was $1,583,849. Today it’s down to $991,244, and dropping.
"We are on a slide that I think we need to keep our eyes wide open for," Mann said.
In light of state plans to reduce and withhold education funding, Mann said the operating fund is more important than ever.
For example, the state aid for 2002 was $5,840,282, of which 10 percent was withheld until October. That amounts to $584,028 the district was short until October.
The state general aid for 2003 is $8,211,982 (the amount is higher because school funding shifted from local property taxes to state sales and income tax this year).
If 10 percent of that was withheld until October this year, that would amount to $821,198 the district would be short for four months.
The money needs to be reported as receivable in the fund balance on June 30, but the district won’t receive it until October.
What’s worse, Mann said, is 17 percent is being withheld this year until October, which comes to nearly $1.4 million.
"So we better have a fund balance to draw from," Mann said. "I present this to you because I want your hearts to race a little bit too. I don’t want to be in this alone."
