McCook's state aid to be lower than expected

After Nebraska legislators got done finagling and finessing the formula for state aid to public schools, McCook's state aid dropped from an anticipated increase of $450,000 to an increase of $134,278.

"There's a tremendous number of schools who lost state aid," MPS Superintendent Dave Schley told board members at their monthly meeting Monday evening.

McCook's state aid for 2007-08 was $5,614,241.76. This year's state aid will be $5,748,520.51, for an increase of $134,278.75.

"Not a lot," Schley said.

Schley said Gov. Dave Heineman was concerned early last winter about a recession when everyone else in the state was wondering what to do with a budget surplus. The governor and some of his prognosticators envisioned a gloomy economic forecast, and an increase in the state aid budget was reduced.

"The Legislature respun things two or three times," Schley said, and in the eleventh hour, rewrote everything, and McCook's increase in state aid ended up less than half of what was anticipated.

Now, the "real" economic forecast "looks good and healthy," Schley said, "much better than anticipated."

The Legislature used a "cost grouping" formula, comparing schools of similar size -- five larger and five smaller. "Low spenders would get more state aid," Schley said.

McCook is in the middle of York, Sidney, Seward, Northwest and Nebraska City on the larger side, and Crete, Schuyler, Alliance, Plattsmouth and Waverly on the smaller side.

McCook's adjusted general fund operating expenditures are $8,991,177.43, and its school population is based on a "formula student" number of 1,433.99. McCook's per-pupil cost is $6,270.04, the least expensive of the 11 schools compared.

Cost-per-pupil for the five schools just larger than McCook:

* York: $7,940.82.

* Sidney: $6,962.37.

* Seward: $7,324.20

* Northwest: $6,792.26.

* Nebraska City: $7,437.03.

Cost-per-pupil for the five schools just smaller than McCook:

* Crete: $6,838.16.

* Schuyler: $6,351.21.

* Alliance: $7,297.54.

* Plattsmouth: $6,777.16.

* Waverly: $7,153.32.

Schley said the state aid formula calculates needs -- McCook's is roughly $11 million -- and resources -- McCook's are roughly $5.8 million. Subtract resources from needs, Schley said, and that's the state aid figure.