NORWALK, Iowa — Schools around Iowa stand to get an extra $168 per student next year after lawmakers passed a bill three weeks behind schedule.
The legislation would increase Supplemental State Aid by $85.6 million.
This was in addition to the extra $13 million Gov. Kim Reynolds already approved for next year to help level the playing field among all Iowa schools: rural, urban and everything in between.
Norwalk Community School District Superintendent DT Magee says this extra money will help, but it's not enough to keep up with inflation.
"If we're not keeping up with inflation, it has an impact on our overall education programming and so although we appreciate the 2.3% supplemental state aid increase, we would like to see that elevated a little bit more in the future so we can catch back up with some of the inflationary pressures," Magee said.
Some of those include rising insurance costs and how much it takes to keep the lights on in every school building.
Iowa law requires lawmakers to set per-pupil funding levels within 30 days of the governor's budget announcement.
Magee says that'll impact their hiring process.
"We're in competition with other school districts in Iowa, but then districts around the country and so the delay in funding will have an impact in hiring seasons and it's a fairly short hiring season to begin with for most educators and schools," Magee said. "So that's where it's going to probably impact us the most."
Magee doesn't expect the delay to impact them finishing their budget for next year ahead of the april deadline.
Local 5 also spoke to Bondurant-Farrar Community School District Superintendent Dr. Rich Powers, who said he'll be happy if the governor signs the bill. It would give his district their biggest board funding boost in years.
But, like Norwalk, he says true costs are rising more than 2.3% a year, so he'd like to see more money down the road.
The bill still needs Gov. Reynolds' signature before it can become law.