Public school districts across Iowa face budget challenges from rising costs and falling enrollments.
Creston Community Schools in rural southwest Iowa serves 1,300 students, but Superintendent Deron Stender says they’ve lost 50 to 60 students a year for almost a decade.
Stender says the state supplemental aid that pays for their programs hasn’t kept pace with inflation for years.
“We haven’t been meeting the needs of the district’s finances or public school finances for at least the last 10 years,” Stender says, “and then we see the pie get another slice in it for private schools.” Stender says education savings accounts are also allowing more students to enroll in private schools.
He says the challenges put pressure on the district to maintain quality education, and it’s looking at how to keep providing the same opportunities for students.
Iowa’s largest school district is losing nearly 600 students a year. Matt Smith, interim superintendent of the Des Moines Public School District, says enrollment is the primary source of revenue for public school districts.
“We’re talking about literally millions and millions of dollars in revenue that we no longer have to provide those programmings resources for students and families,” Smith says, noting that inflation has far outpaced state aid.
He says last year they hired less staff and closed two buildings to make $17-million in budget cuts. This year, Smith says they’ll look at similar ways to save money and preserve programs.
Both made their comments on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.”
(By Maura Curran, Iowa Public Radio)