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Centennial's Legislative Priorities

Centennial's Legislative Priorities: 2024

Centennial administrators and members of the school board met with Senators Michael Kreun and Heather Gustafson and Representative Elliot Engren on January 17, 2024 to discuss the educational needs and priorities of the district. 

Centennial's Legislative Platform

Equalization: Change funding formulas to provide fair equalization, making school levies, Operating Referendum, Local Optional Revenue, and Debt Service Programs more affordable.

  • Historic Inflation
    • General Education Formula Allowance is behind by 18.6%
    • Local Optional Revenue is behind 25.1%
  • Lower than state average operating referendum; local taxpayer impacts
  • Formula based equalization
    • Operating Referendum: 100% taxpayer; 0% State Aid
    • Local Optional Revenue: 96% taxpayer; 4% State Aid
    • Debt Service: 100% taxpayer; 0% State Aid

Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Revenue: Increase or change funding formulas to allow and expand allowable uses for the school board to address the facility needs of our students and community.

  • Address property tax levies to ensure comparable taxpayer support
    • Equalization
    • Cap
  • Inflation has had a significant impact on the school district's purchasing power
    • Capped at $380 per pupil unit since 2015, FY 24 would have been $489 per pupil if this had  kept up with inflation. This is a 28% decrease in purchasing power over this time.

Compensatory Revenue: The Legislature must stabilize the formula beyond the hold harmless period by using factors other than eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch.

  • The level of poverty in our school as been increasing over the past several years.
  • The current formula uses student counts eligible for free and reduced-price lunch.
  • With the passage of the Free School Meals Program, it has become significantly challenging to accurately determine students' income thresholds, which are part of the current formula.

Legislative Decisions of the 2023 Session: Fully fund the financial "tails" of approved legislation from the 2023 legislative session, including clarity on the provisions, so that school districts can adequately and effectively implement those priorities.

  • Read Act: Funding for resources and professional development
  • Unemployment Insurance: Allow districts to levy or legislature fully fund this law
  • Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) Law; Fund this encumbrance and provide clarity on this legislation for school districts
  • School Resource Officers: School safety is at the forefront of our efforts to ensure a safe and secure learning environment.
    • Revise the statutory language on School Resource Officers
    • Increase the Safe Schools Levy from $36 to a higher amount

Student working in class