School District Budgets, State Aid and Property Taxes

As you come to know me, you probably have come to know that I am pretty “low key”. I do not look for the limelight and prefer to “stay under the radar.” Well, as you might guess, sometimes, as the superintendent of one of the greatest districts in the state it is sometimes difficult to “stay under the radar.” As I grow as an administrator, I also have become increasingly more involved in state issues. Over the last couple of years, I have been watching the legislature very closely and have tried to be a resource for our local representatives. I have reached out to state senators personally, I have testified at hearings and I also have helped to lead the dialogue through various education associations that I am involved with.

I wanted to take a moment and share with you my thoughts about the current financial landscape of our state. As the state’s financial (tax) landscape continues to become more and more lopsided, it is becoming increasingly difficult for myself and other school superintendents to “stay low.”   I have been a superintendent since 2009. In the past 8 years, the landscape has changed dramatically. Jefferson County is a fairly typical example of this. Below is a table illustrating the changes that I refer to for Fairbury Public Schools:

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As you can see, our property valuation has nearly doubled in the last 8 years. On the flip side, our State Aid has withered away to nothing. These two items are definitely “linked”. As a district’s valuation increases, this tells the state that it has the ability to fund itself and therefore must not need state aid. In the current times, this is a true statement. However, we all realize this also puts the burden of funding public education squarely on the shoulders of property owners.

In a conversation I had with an area farmer this past month, this frustration was apparent. As valuations continue to rise, we are also facing commodity prices that are declining. This is a “perfect storm” for area farmers. During last year’s legislative session, the rhetoric was pretty harsh, with schools being pitted in the middle. At times, districts were painted as being wasteful or unwilling to control costs. I believe the Governor was heard saying, “We have a spending problem…” and said, “…the average district’s spending increases over 6% per year.”

I can only speak for our district, but we do not fit that stereotype… Our adopted budget for last year, for the 2015-16-budget year, it was for an anticipated increase of 4.1%. But when you look at the final general fund spending numbers for this past year (2015-16 Budget year) you see the actual spending increased only 1.8%. Typically, that has been my experience, actual spending increases usually go up between 2-4% each year, not 6% as the governor stated.
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When we consider the budget that was adopted at the September 12, 2016 board meeting for the current 2016-17 Budget Year, you will note that the budget is projected to increase 4.8% in General Fund spending and a 1.9% increase in General Fund revenue. Just like last year, we anticipate the actual numbers to be lower than the adopted numbers.

Speaking from a local perspective and knowing several districts across the state, I do not believe school spending is the lone issue affecting our current state tax system situation. I believe the true struggle is to find balance for our state’s tax receipts. Nebraska’s tax system (to fund public services) is based on a “three-legged stool.”   Sales Tax. Income Tax. Property Tax. Upon its inception, these “legs” were relatively balanced and provided the resources needed to fund our state’s needs. What we have seen in the last 8 years is that the “Property Tax leg” of this system is becoming longer and longer, until now, we are balancing our resources primarily on this leg. We cannot achieve a tax balance by focusing on spending alone. As a legislature, they have to figure out a way to bring more balance to our tax system.

As the new legislative session begins in January, I expect that property taxes will be high on everyone’s list of things to change. I, too, hope we can have meaningful change that balances out the “three legged stool.” I was at a meeting last month in York where Senator Kolterman stated that he believes change was going to happen this next session. He believes that enough senators want to “get something” done. Perhaps this will be the year…I just hope we achieve balance and take the burden off of our property owners.

Digital Citizenship Week

Students at Fairbury Public Schools participated in Digital Citizenship Week, and with it came the first annual Digital Citizenship Decorate Your Door Contest. Faculty and students were invited to decorate their doors with the theme “Don’t Be Mean Behind the Screen”.

There were several other events at the Jr. Sr. High School throughout the week. They kicked it off with Wordy Wednesday where the students were invited to create a word collage using words and phrases associated with a positive digital presence.  On Throw Back Thursday, students were to create an image with a good digital citizenship tip.  Photo Friday was a day where they could take a  photo of themselves, their friends, or teachers at school which represented themselves or their school in a positive way.  On Motivational Monday students were to tweet an inspirational quote, and on Twitter Tuesday they were to send a school spirit/positive tweet.  The students were to use the hashtag jeffpride in their tweet for a $10 gift card drawing each day.

Fairbury Public Schools is teaching and promoting positive digital citizenship in many ways.  Please take some time to see all of the great door decorations below.

Shaye and Emily Qualify for State Cross Country

Congratulations to Shaye Stall (senior) and Emily Burkley (junior) for qualifying for the state cross country meet.  Shaye finished 4th at the district meet with a personal best time of 20:47.  Emily finished 7th with a time of 21:24, which is her best on our course.  The girls will run at Kearney Country Club on Friday.  Best wishes and GO JEFFS!

What Does a Flea Know About Caffeine?

Mrs. E Winter’s 7th grade science students got to do a pharmacological study on a model organism this week when they hypothesized and observed the effects of caffeine on Daphnia (water fleas). They took an initial heart rate, dosed them with a caffeinated solution of 12.5mg/250ml and then measured the resulting heart rate increase.

Students Attend Skills USA Fall Leadership Conference

Students of our local Skills USA chapter attended the Skills USA Fall Leadership Conference September 19th in North Platte, Nebraska.  Members that attended were;  Dalton Buxton, Madison Gregory, Arthur Smith, Sara Mitchell, Reed Williams, Jessa Eden and Taylor Shellhouse.  Students got to go on a local fish hatchery tour and see how they raise and care for fish in Nebraska.  Students also went to many break-out sessions and learned about teamwork, character building, problem solving and many other characteristics associated with being a Skills USA member. Students will now choose an area of study and compete in the Skills USA Nebraska State Leadership Conference coming up in April of 2017.  If they win there, they would then travel and compete at the national level in Louisville, Kentucky in June.

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College Acess Grant At Work

Fairbury junior and senior students have been busy during the months of September and October in taking advantage of the grant they received from EducationQuest for exposure to college access activities.  On September 21st, the senior class visited Southeast Community College in Lincoln and were able to see many of the programs of study they offered, toured the campus, and even were able to eat lunch at the college cafeteria.  The seniors were also able to visit The University of Nebraska-Lincoln on October 5th along with a few other schools for a special College Access Day specifically set up for recipients of the College Access Grant.  During this visit, the students toured the campus, attended a college major fair, , learned about financial aid, heard from current UNL students and were able to eat lunch at one of the campus cafeteriaś.  So far this fall, the juniors at Fairbury Jr-Sr High School have visited Peru State College on September 29th and will be visit Nebraska Wesleyan University in the spring some time.  At Peru, the juniors heard from the athletics department, admissions, TRIO coordinator,  about financial aid and were also given a tour of campus.  They ended the day by getting to eat lunch in the campus cafeteria.

These visits have been beneficial and very important in the college planning process for our students.

Microbes We Eat

Students spent the last two days in science class doing a fun lab called “Microbes we eat” as part of their microbiology unit. They learned how bacteria and fungi are used to produce everyday foods. There was some taste testing involved- and they enjoyed some foods better than others! Ask them about it!

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Pink Out!

FBLA is selling Pink Out shirts along with MIlford.  We are wanting to wear these shirts on October 27 all day and during the Volleyball game that night.  All proceeds will go to the Susan B Komen foundation for breast cancer.  If you’d like a shirt, please fill out a form and send it along with your payment to Logan Kats at the high school.  Orders need to be in by October 12.

You may e-mail Logan at lkats@fairburyjeffs.org or call him at (402)729-6116 if you have questions!  Thanks for the support.

Click for the pink-out-order-form

September Junior High Students of the Month

Junior High Students of the Month for September are 8th graders Chayton Baloun-Diller and Shelby Klaumann; 7th graders Karly McCord and Alex Buxton.  Students are nominated by their teachers based on work ethic, classroom behaviors and how they treat others.  Congratulations Students of the Month!

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