By Kacie Svoboda
The recent passing of HB 1182 in the South Dakota Legislature was big news across the state as it was designed to augment teachers’ salaries through a half cent increase to the state sales tax. However, the Hill City School District (HCSD) will see no increased funding from this tax raise, as it falls outside the state aid formula.
HCSD superintendent Dr. Mike Hanson explained, “State aid is provided to districts when the local effort (taxes collected) cannot meet the local need (state figure setting the cost to educate students in the district).”
For the last 15 years, the HCSD has not received state aid because the local fiscal need is met through the local tax base. Hill City’s local effort has exceeded the local need due to the valuation of property within the district. These property tax levies are set by the state of South Dakota and the Pennington County Auditor’s Office sets the property tax valuations. The school also receives federal secure rural schools funding that is tied to timber sales through the Forest Service.
Hanson and the school board had to wait to see what the new levies and property valuations would be to determine the impact of HB 1182. The state set the adjusted local need for 2016-17 at $2,741,730. This amount is up about $200,000 from the previous year’s local need. Hanson projects that the local effort for the school district will be $2,832,945, once again exceeding the need.
“I can’t thank our school district patrons enough for the incredible fiscal support,” he added. “We are very grateful, as the funding provides us the opportunity to implement wonderful education programs for all of our students.”
The HCSD employs 42 certified employees — including teachers, as well as counselors and staff. The 2015-16 enrollment was 499 students. This resulted in a student teacher ratio of 13.4-1. If Hill City’s local effort should fall below local need values in future years, the district would then qualify for state aid and the students to teacher ratio becomes a factor. The target ratio for Hill City is 14.24-1. The new funding formula approved by the legislature set ratios of 12 students to one teacher for schools with less than 200 students. Schools with 200 to 600 students have a sliding scale ratio from 12-1 to 15-1. Schools with more than 600 students ratio is 15 students to one teacher. Hill City is not held to accountability requirements set forth by HB 1182 since it doesn’t receive state aid. So the school district does not have to meet a certain teacher to student ratio and does not have to use a certain percentage of funding for teachers’ salaries.
Hanson pointed out that even though funding is not tied to ratios for Hill City, it is a consideration for board and administration.
“Our educational structure meets the diverse needs of our students,” he said. “It is important to me and the board of education to ensure that student needs are met with the most effective match of faculty and support staff to student need. We have the best fit in terms of teacher to student ratio to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students.”
Another goal of the increased funding for education provided by the tax increase was to hit a target teacher salary for the state of $48,500. This salary target would ideally make South Dakota more competitive with neighboring states to attract and keep quality teachers. Hill City’s average teacher salary is approximately $44,600. Whether or not district teachers will move closer to that $48,500 target will be determined in negotiations with the local teachers union, which sets the base salary. The average salary figure fluctuates with resignations, retirements and new hires in the district. The new average salary will be determined in September.
In comparison, the largest school district in Pennington County, the Rapid City School District, does not have a local effort that meets the local need to educate the number of students in the district and so will see the benefits of the new funding formula. The Rapid City district anticipates it will receive $5 million from the half cent sales tax increase. This will be used to fund an approximate 6.5 percent raise for the district’s teachers.
Despite receiving no state aid, Hanson feels the quality of education offered in Hill City is competitive with other school districts.
“We frequently receive open enrollment requests from families living in other districts due to the strength of our educational programs,” he said.
Hanson expressed gratitude to the local community for providing the resources that allow the implementation of strong, inventive programs.
“Our district structure supports the diverse needs of our students to promote academic performance,” he said. “At every building level, innovative and unique program designs create the strong culture and climate for the academics we want for our children.”
The recent passing of HB 1182 in the South Dakota Legislature was big news across the state as it was designed to augment teachers’ salaries through a half cent increase to the state sales tax. However, the Hill City School District (HCSD) will see no increased funding from this tax raise, as it falls outside the state aid formula.
HCSD superintendent Dr. Mike Hanson explained, “State aid is provided to districts when the local effort (taxes collected) cannot meet the local need (state figure setting the cost to educate students in the district).”
For the last 15 years, the HCSD has not received state aid because the local fiscal need is met through the local tax base. Hill City’s local effort has exceeded the local need due to the valuation of property within the district. These property tax levies are set by the state of South Dakota and the Pennington County Auditor’s Office sets the property tax valuations. The school also receives federal secure rural schools funding that is tied to timber sales through the Forest Service.
Hanson and the school board had to wait to see what the new levies and property valuations would be to determine the impact of HB 1182. The state set the adjusted local need for 2016-17 at $2,741,730. This amount is up about $200,000 from the previous year’s local need. Hanson projects that the local effort for the school district will be $2,832,945, once again exceeding the need.
“I can’t thank our school district patrons enough for the incredible fiscal support,” he added. “We are very grateful, as the funding provides us the opportunity to implement wonderful education programs for all of our students.”
The HCSD employs 42 certified employees — including teachers, as well as counselors and staff. The 2015-16 enrollment was 499 students. This resulted in a student teacher ratio of 13.4-1. If Hill City’s local effort should fall below local need values in future years, the district would then qualify for state aid and the students to teacher ratio becomes a factor. The target ratio for Hill City is 14.24-1. The new funding formula approved by the legislature set ratios of 12 students to one teacher for schools with less than 200 students. Schools with 200 to 600 students have a sliding scale ratio from 12-1 to 15-1. Schools with more than 600 students ratio is 15 students to one teacher. Hill City is not held to accountability requirements set forth by HB 1182 since it doesn’t receive state aid. So the school district does not have to meet a certain teacher to student ratio and does not have to use a certain percentage of funding for teachers’ salaries.
Hanson pointed out that even though funding is not tied to ratios for Hill City, it is a consideration for board and administration.
“Our educational structure meets the diverse needs of our students,” he said. “It is important to me and the board of education to ensure that student needs are met with the most effective match of faculty and support staff to student need. We have the best fit in terms of teacher to student ratio to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students.”
Another goal of the increased funding for education provided by the tax increase was to hit a target teacher salary for the state of $48,500. This salary target would ideally make South Dakota more competitive with neighboring states to attract and keep quality teachers. Hill City’s average teacher salary is approximately $44,600. Whether or not district teachers will move closer to that $48,500 target will be determined in negotiations with the local teachers union, which sets the base salary. The average salary figure fluctuates with resignations, retirements and new hires in the district. The new average salary will be determined in September.
In comparison, the largest school district in Pennington County, the Rapid City School District, does not have a local effort that meets the local need to educate the number of students in the district and so will see the benefits of the new funding formula. The Rapid City district anticipates it will receive $5 million from the half cent sales tax increase. This will be used to fund an approximate 6.5 percent raise for the district’s teachers.
Despite receiving no state aid, Hanson feels the quality of education offered in Hill City is competitive with other school districts.
“We frequently receive open enrollment requests from families living in other districts due to the strength of our educational programs,” he said.
Hanson expressed gratitude to the local community for providing the resources that allow the implementation of strong, inventive programs.
“Our district structure supports the diverse needs of our students to promote academic performance,” he said. “At every building level, innovative and unique program designs create the strong culture and climate for the academics we want for our children.”