Dangerous drop in NEVC enrollment

By Johannes Brann

“We ended the school year in May with an enrollment of 175, but this year we are looking at an enrollment of 144,” said Christy Jones, Superintendent of Northeast Vernon County (NEVC) R-1 Schools.

Thursday evening’s regular meeting of the NEVC School Board saw all seven members participate, five physically present with two online.

Prior to the meeting, Jones was asked if the district would become, what in Missouri school finance is called, a “hold-harmless” district.

Said Jones, “I don’t want to and I hope we don’t have to, but that would be a real possibility and it would secure us financially.”

In Missouri school finance, a “hold harmless” district is one which is guaranteed to receive a higher level of state funding because the standard formula for funding would be inadequate to maintain the district. The Bronaugh R-VII School District has been categorized as “hold harmless” for a number of years.

The superintendent explained that the state is thinking of making significant changes to “hold-harmless” or even doing away with it, beginning in the 2027 or 2028 school year.

“If that’s the case, we’d have to make significant changes to survive, such as go to one building since we’ve already cut everything to the bare bone. And I don’t just want this district to barely survive; I want it to thrive!”

In Missouri, public schools receive financing primarily from three sources: monthly state tuition payments (based on attendance), property taxes and federal funds (primarily for special education and remedial programs).

The amount of monthly per pupil tuition provided by the state can vary from month to month.

“That’s why it’s called the State Adequacy Target; it’s a monthly target but the actual amount can be thousands less per pupil per month, which makes it hard to budget,” said Jones.

Due to the small size of the district and the low number of high value properties within the district, NEVC receives the largest share of its funding from state tuition payments. A 31-student drop in enrollment would result in a significant funding drop for the R-1 District. Due to careful budgeting in recent years, the district does have some reserve funds.

Preceding the monthly meeting was the annual tax hearing. Jones explained how, before the drop in enrollment, this year’s cuts in per-pupil state tuition were projected to result in a $46,000 cut in district income.

Jones recommended a 15.5 cent increase per hundred dollars of assessed valuation in the property tax rate (from $5.2597 to $5.4147).

Said Jones, “If everyone pays their taxes, this would result in a revenue increase of $37,000, leaving us with $9,000 less in income than compared to the previous year, and that’s before the drop in enrollment.”

The board approved a motion to adopt the new property tax rate, by a vote of 7-0.

The report of the elementary and high school principals reviewed results of last spring’s standardized testing. Notable improvements were evident in reading among the elementary grades.

Said Northeast Vernon County Elementary School Principal Eric Rhodes, “This past year, we concentrated on reading and these test results show significant improvement.”

Rhodes credited the positive improvements to the dedicated efforts of teachers, parents and students. He said the coming year shall see a focus on math.