Sparsity aid was recently awarded for the 2014-15 school year to 133 school districts, including three from Oconto County, to help address the needs of rural schools.
Local recipients are Gillett, $142,633; Suring, $101,071; and Lena, $98,946.
Sparsity aid, originally created as part of the 2007-09 budget, was a recommendation of the state superintendent’s Rural Schools Advisory Council. To receive funding, a district must have fewer than 725 students, less than 10 students per square mile and more than 20 percent of its student population eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Qualifying districts are eligible for $300 in categorical aid per student.
“Public schools form the backbone of Wisconsin communities, and that is especially true for our rural areas,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers, “yet rural schools face financial pressure from issues like declining enrollment, high numbers of economically disadvantaged students, and unstable property values that disproportionally affect their school funding.”
The 2013-15 budget set the total allocation for sparsity aid at $13.54 million. Districts that met the criteria to be aided under the program were eligible for $17.091 million in funding. Due to the fact that allocated aid did not cover that amount, the Sept. 15 sparsity aid payments to school districts will be prorated at roughly 78.7 percent, or $236 per student.
The per student amount is slightly less than the 2013-14 level of $237 per student (proration of 79.1 percent), causing a small loss in funding for districts that received sparsity aid last year and again qualified in 2014-15.
Suring Superintendent Kelly Casper said the district uses the aid to cover everyday expenses. As sparsity aid and other funding sources decline, the district looks at other ways to keep operations up and running, she said.
This year’s aid will reach 56,970 students, or about 6.6 percent of total public school enrollment.
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