A school funding measure introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives might well put a smile on the face of Delaware County school officials.
The County’s four home-based districts would each receive an increase under the measure, each receiving a share of the proposed $600 million increase over two years.
A full 10% of that amount, $64 million, would arrive in Franklin County school districts during the first two years (2019-2021).
Although the bill purports to direct increases to rural areas and high-poverty rate urban districts, there are some surprising figures in estimates related last week for House Bill 305, whose main sponsors are a Lima Republican, Rep Robert Cupp, and an Ashtabula County Democrat, John Patterson.
Olentangy Local Schools would see the biggest boost – and one of the largest in the state by percentage.
Delaware County districts would see the following increases for the first year:
- Big Walnut — $5,831,246 to $6,073,407 for an increase of $242,161 or 4.2%
- Buckeye Valley — $3,695,136 to $3,735,992 for an increase of $40,826 or 1.1%
- Delaware — $15,628,871 to $18,374,591 for an increase of $2,745,721 or 17.6%
- Olentangy — $9,255,536 to $23,050,130 for an increase of $13,794,595 or 149%
A copy of the legislation, which is the product of almost two years of working with educators, can be found here.
