On Tuesday, March 19, Senate Republicans presented a bill to give local school districts more options with state funding.

“Our schools are being crushed by the costly and unfunded mandates that were passed by Democrats last session,” Senator Torrey Westrom (R-Alexandria) said. “That is why Senate Republicans are proposing legislation to give local school districts more flexibility with state funding. I strongly support this proposal and believe we need to return local control to our school boards and districts.”

Senate File 5025 allows school boards to transfer the new funding from one use to another by passing a resolution indicating the amount and purpose of the funds they want to transfer. It is similar to the temporary fund transfer authority previously enacted in 2020. A locally approved fund transfer cannot take away from salaries or benefits, increase state aid obligations, or result in a property tax increase.

These relief measures will be in place for the next three school years and only apply to mandates in the 2023 education omnibus bills plus any new mandates that are anticipated in 2024 education legislation. A letter on March 14 from various education groups requested the legislature refrain from passing new mandates in 2024, citing the negative impacts to their budget, workforce, local control, and innovation efforts.

Last year, Senate Republicans proposed a locally-controlled 5% per pupil increase for each year. Democrats only passed 4% and 2% increases each year, but mandates, even before they were passed, were worrying schools. One suburban superintendent told his school board  a month before the bill passed, “This is potentially one of the most damaging sessions I’ve seen since I’ve been a superintendent.” 

More recent reporting shows that roughly half of the $2.2 billion in new funding was already earmarked for mandates. The report also states that many schools need to adjust budgets due to declining enrollment and the loss of federal covid funding.