Next school year additional state funding has been signed by Governor Kim Reynolds.

The State Supplemental Aid (SSA), which is additional funding for k-12 public education, will receive a 2.5-percent increase, or just over $155 million of new money. House District 47 Representative Phil Thompson of Boone is satisfied with the end result of where the SSA funding landed, especially when there is high inflation rates and lots of federal funding to provide for COVID-19 relief as well for schools.

“In Greene County, we just got our ESSER III (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding from the federal government too, and there’s a lot of flexibility with those funds too. So you know it’s kind of a unique situation with high inflation and a lot of federal dollars that are being thrown around too. So I think 2.5-percent was appropriate and sustainable for our state and again something we can continue to build off of.”

Greene County School District Superintendent Tim Christensen shares his disappointment in the finalized SSA rate.

“I think that everybody in education knows that 2.5(-percent) is too low, but to be honest I didn’t expect anything more than 2.5(-percent). Part of me was concerned that it was going to be 2.25(-percent). So again, not that I’m overjoyed with 2.5(-percent), but I’m glad it was at least 2.5(-percent), and I’m glad that they did it pretty close to within the first 30 days when they were supposed to.” 

Public school districts can now use that percentage when figuring out their budgets for the next fiscal year, which must be certified with the state by April 15th.