Matters of Fact -- Rural Policy Matters, Volume 4, Number 6 (June 2002)

Idaho's rural schools get federal funds
Idaho's rural schools will be receiving $5.4 million in federal grants to improve safety in small districts. Grants ranging from about $7,600 to $245,000 are going to mostly small, rural school districts. Much of the money will be used to demolish unsafe school buildings, remove asbestos and remodel buildings to accommodate people with disabilities. The <1>Idaho Statesman (5/20/02) reports that Idaho school districts have struggled with improving dilapidated buildings since a district court judge ruled in 2001 that the state's funding mechanism for raising money to fix buildings was unconstitutional.

Colorado lawmakers approve School Finance Act
Colorado lawmakers have approved the School Finance Act, which directs $4.1 billion into K-12 education. The finance act also includes $15 million to fund a facilities lawsuit settlement. The money will mostly go to rural districts to replace school buildings. According to the Rocky Mountain News (5/10/02), the money will mean new buildings for districts like rural Las Animas, where the 86-year old Columbian Elementary schools' brick walls are literally pulling apart and where a lack of elevators means classroom aids carry disabled students up and down stairs.

Alaska's rural districts approved for funding increase
Alaska's House and Senate Finance Committees have agreed to put close to $1 million in the state's capital budget to offset the money that 22 rural districts will lose under the current funding formula. The 1998 school funding formula's "eroding floor" provision decreases any extra district funding for new students by 40%. Districts hardest hit by the provision have been mostly rural and Native. The $1 million in supplemental funds would be for one year only, until the results of a study examining the cost differences of rural and urban districts is complete.