Four Allen districts meet benchmark
ASHLEY SLOBODA | The Journal Gazette
All four Allen County school districts met the new benchmark meant to encourage schools to spend more state funding on classroom expenditures – and Fort Wayne Community Schools did so with the biggest margin.
State lawmakers set a goal of districts keeping 85% of state dollars in the education fund, or the classroom, after a new school budget structure took effect in 2019.
Kirby Stahly, assistant superintendent of administrative services for East Allen County Schools, explained why the new setup has prompted a need for budget transfers at many districts:
Districts now have two funds – the education fund and the operations fund. Previous budgeting buckets – general, capital projects, transportation and bus replacement funds – were eliminated.
Complexity cuts hit FWCS budget
Study logs drop in funding for disadvantaged students
ASHLEY SLOBODA | The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne Community Schools has for years absorbed the sting of declining state funding for disadvantaged students.
Known as complexity funding, it is based on students and families in each district receiving welfare or food stamps or caring for foster children. The theory is students from less-advantaged homes require more resources to educate.
At FWCS, these dollars have fallen an average of about 5% annually from $1,707 per student in 2013-14 to $1,068 in 2020-21, Chief Financial Officer Kathy Friend said.
This forces decisions about whether to reduce services or to use other funding to maintain programming, she said.