As we move into the start of the Legislative session, I want to make sure you are aware of the messages in play regarding budget impacts on public education. Late last week, a poll was released showing that 57% of Utahns don’t want public education cuts. <http://utahpolicy.com/featured_article/utahns-don%E2%80%99t-want-public-education-cuts>. Use of Rainy Day Funds has held public education harmless in the current budget year. The media has been touting that public education will be held harmless in this next budget cycle.
Let us clarify the latter. You have heard that the Governor’s budget will “hold public education harmless.” While it is true that the Governor’s recommendation to the legislature is to maintain current levels of education funding, there will be no increase to offset anticipated enrollment growth of up to 11,000 new students throughout the state. With the increase in student population, the overall WPU will be cut 2-3% which will be felt by all school districts throughout the state, including Granite School District. This means will receive 2-3% less in state funding next year than we did for our current budget year.
While we feel confident that the Governor and the Legislature are trying to minimize the impact of budget reductions on public education to the greatest extent possible, we want to clarify for our employees what the state’s budget discussions might mean to Granite District. We anticipate additional communications with our employees as the details of these budget recommendations become available through the legislative session. Feel free to send questions or concerns via email to superintendentsblog@graniteschools.org , or post those comments here on my blog.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Ronnenkamp