Bismarck Tribune

By JONATHAN RIVBy JONATHAN RIVOLI

A major revamp of North Dakota's K-12 school funding formula passed the state Senate Wednesday, setting the stage for an $80.5 million increase in state aid to schools over the next two years.

It now goes to the state House for further debate.

Submitted to legislators after a year of study by an independent commission, the new plan comes in response to a pending lawsuit by nine school districts that claim the current formula is unfair. But the changes it seeks to make would touch every district in the state.

"I think it really revolutionizes school funding," said Sen. Tim Flakoll, R-Fargo, who's the bill's primary sponsor.

The 48-page bill covers every aspect of a complex formula that's used to divvy up state money among school districts.

Flakoll said the main idea behind all the changes is to create a system where state aid is divvied up on a per-student, instead of a per-district basis.

"When you have equity on an individual student basis, you have equity between schools," he said.

Under the current formula, school districts receive their allocation of funding based on enrollment. The new plan calls for a formula that provides a base allotment of $3,090 per student. That allotment is then expanded if the student falls into a number of special categories that indicate he or she will be more expensive to educate. For example, if the student has learning disabilities or speaks English as a second language, that student's funding allotment will increase. Whatever district bears the cost of educating the student will get the specific amount assigned to the student by the formula.

In addition, the state's smallest schools will get 25 percent more funding per student than the state's largest districts because studies have determined it costs more to offer an equal education in smaller schools.

The measure received widespread support in the Senate, passing 46-1.

"I do feel we are taking one step forward, but I still feel we have a long way to go," said Sen. JoNell Bakke, D-Grand Forks, who supported the measure.

Bakke said she's concerned the change doesn't go far enough in addressing the needs of special education students and rural districts.

The main opposition to the funding change has come from very small school districts that have their own lower grade schools but send their kids to high school in a neighboring district. The Apple Creek School District, which is located just east of Bismarck and pays tuition to send its students to the city's high schools, is one such district.

Apple Creek School Board member Kathy Mauch said her district would lose out because of a provision in the formula that would allow Bismarck, instead of Apple Creek to count the high school students.

"We ask: Why should they get the credit and not us?" Mauch said.

Flakoll said the change is necessary to stay consistent with the "money follows the student" theme. He also said other parts of the bill, which deal with property taxes and aid adjustments for small districts, will more than make up the difference.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)