Now that the Students First Act bill was signed into law last month by Governor Kim Reynolds, some lawmakers are touting one additional aspect.

The new law allows for parents or guardians to use the state allocated per pupil funds per student to enroll in private schools, whether they are already attending private or public schools. However, Greene County does not currently have a private school within the county, but House District 47 Representative Carter Nordman (R-Panora) tells Raccoon Valley Radio about the situation if a student decides to go to a neighboring county for private education.

“If a student leaves a Greene County school for one of these private schools, but still resides in the public school district, geographically they (the public school) are still going to receive $1,200 a year in categorical funding even though they’re not teaching that school any longer.”  

Greene County School District Superintendent Brett Abbotts argues how that situation from Nordman could be seen as a negative impact to the school district.

“The $1,200, I’ll call a kickback, does not come close to the amount of funding that we get per student. And so while it seems like we might be getting a favor with the $1,200, it really ends up being about a $9,500 net loss for a district if a student were to leave our district to go to a private institution.”  

Nordman adds that this new law could also lead to more private schools being established across the state and possibly within Greene County.