State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) of Oxford says he sees gaps in a house bill to give additional one-time funding to schools based on students’ attendance for in-person learning throughout the school year. 

The Iowa legislature recently passed a 2.4% increase in spending for public school education next year and HF-532 would help provide schools with supplemental funding. Kinney says the financial assistance is most beneficial to schools which have been 100% onsite throughout the school year,  but there are several districts that were forced to move classes online or into hybrid models due to the pandemic, which comes with a cost, “The problem I see is that not all school districts are in the same position. COVID affected some areas more harshly than it did others and even for the schools that went 100% virtually, there was a cost associated with that such as getting hot spots and other things (associated) with technology.”

Kinney says many school districts whose education funding has been reduced due to COVID-19 keeping their certified enrollment down are now being forced to consider possible property tax rate increases to cover their budget shortfall. He says it’s unfortunate those schools have been put in that position.