The Carroll Community School District administrators and the board of education are continuing to adapt to the new changes regarding funding to Area Education Agencies (AEAs). Back in March, Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 2612 into law, which changed the structure and funding of AEAs, wanting to give the school district the choice in how the money for services is spent. Superintendent Dr. Casey Berlau said the district has yet to receive a bill from the AEA for services provided as every school in the state paid the agencies with flow-through money to serve districts equally. With the change in legislation, CCSD now receives 60 percent of the funding, and the remainder goes to the AEAs for the resources offered.
In August, Berlau says the district was informed that $177,051 was generated for educational services through the AEA. Of that total, 40 percent was allocated to the agency to cover programs the district utilizes. Before the change, non-public schools in the area also offered AEA services, which had no known impact on the public school system. Director of Business Affairs Nicole McCarville says a percentage of the funding directly to the AEA is now granted for Kuemper Catholic.
With only four percent of the 40 being used to pay for educational services for CCSD, the district is now expected to be billed for each resource provided by the AEA. Board member Duane Horsley asked if CCSD was struggling to maintain services with their AEA. Adams Elementary Principal and Director of Special Education Amy Collison says AEA is still available to the district. Still, administrators are just becoming more aware of requests being made.
With this being the first year of implementation, the district is still learning about the actual impact it could financially leave on CCSD. Next year, one hundred percent of the media and education services will go to the district, but a percentage may also be required to be allocated to Kuemper Catholic. Special Education services have no change this year, as one hundred percent still goes directly to the AEA. However, next year, ten percent of that funding will stay with the district, meaning more special education resources must be paid through CCSD’s Special Education funds.
