If a bill approved by the Mississippi Senate Saturday is signed by the governor, school districts in the Golden Triangle will receive state funding increases.
House Bill 4130 being signed would result in Columbus Municipal School District getting a 17% increase, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District getting a 4.6% increase, Lowndes County School District getting a .42% increase, and West Point Consolidated School District getting a 4.4% increase from their fiscal year 2024 budgets, according to data Rep. Rob Roberson provided The Dispatch.
The bill borrows from the House’s original funding proposal, the Investing in the Needs of Students to Prioritize, Impact and Reform Education (INSPIRE) bill, which Roberson, R-Starkville and chair of the House Education Committee, originally introduced.
He told The Dispatch the new formula will better benefit Mississippi schools in the long run.
“All in all we got a very good formula out, and … it’s focused on our students,” he said. “ I think we’re all going to be far better off with (it) than anything we’ve dealt with in the past.”
The new formula, named the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, would replace the Mississippi Adequate Education Program that has been in place since 1997 and distribute funds with a focus on students’ needs.
The MSFF formula starts with a student base cost of $6,695.34, which Roberson said was determined with help from the Department of Education. The number is based on an objective formula that takes teacher salaries, administrative expenses and other operational costs into account.
Then the formula adds specific weights determined by students’ educational needs. Low income students receive a 30% increase. Students learning English as a second language receive a 15% increase. There are three tiers of weight to be added for students with special needs ranging from 60% to 130% depending on how much help is required.
Districts providing gifted education and career technical education receive additional funding. A sparsity weight is also given to districts with less than eight students per square mile.
Roberson said that the focus on student needs with the new formula will cater better to students while also making funding across districts more equitable — two things, he said, that were lost in discussions about sustaining MAEP.
“In my opinion, MAEP has become such a political hot potato,” he said. “It has turned into politics instead of being worried about our kids. I think that we’ve kind of overcome that issue and moved on to trying to make certain that our kids are being taken care of.”
He said MDE will evaluate the formula over the next few years to see how it benefits schools in the state. He intends to advocate for increasing the allocations for special needs students in the future as well.
But for now, Roberson said he is happy with the legislature’s compromise on the bill and what it will mean for students.
“I think it’s in the best interest of our students,” he said. “I think it’s in the best interest of our teachers (and administration), … and frankly I think it’s in the best interest of our state moving us forward in being more progressive in how we think about these things.”
Funding in local districts
SOCSD would see an increase from $28,419,225 in fiscal year 2024 to $29,727,814 under the new formula.
SOCSD Director of Communications Haley Montgomery said the district appreciates the work of Roberson and Senate Education Chair Dennis DeBar on improving state funding.
“We look forward to seeing the impact these new numbers will have on student opportunities and outcomes in Oktibbeha County as well as across the entire state,” she wrote in a text to The Dispatch.
LCSD funding would increase from $31,731,935 in fiscal year 2024 to $31,865,721 under the new formula. CMSD funding would increase from $18,666,519 in fiscal year 2024 to $21,979,362 in the coming school year with the new formula.
LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison and CMSD Superintendent Stanley Ellis, in emails to The Dispatch, also thanked the legislature for its support in funding public education.
“I am pleased that the House and the Senate have reached an agreement on a funding formula that appears to sustain a positive increase in our state funding,” Allison wrote.
WPCSD’s funding would increase from $15,985,432 in fiscal year 2024 to $16,689,141 under the new formula.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 39 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
