A second community forum was held at Santa Fe High School Wednesday evening to provide more information about the challenges many rural school districts are facing in the State of Missouri.

About 80 community members attended the forum, which featured three different breakout sessions that focused on specific topics ranging from state mandates to changes in funding for public education. The stations were led by superintendents from nearby districts, as well as Attorney Duane Martin, Lafayette County Northern Commissioner Monica Ritter, and Representative Terry Thompson. Following the final session, Santa Fe Superintendent Derek Lark told KMMO News that he felt that community members gained a lot from the forum.

 

Santa Fe also held a forum on March 24th to present information about many of these issues. Lark says another main goal he had when putting each forum together was to help educate community members on the legislation that affects their students.

 

One major issue brought up in each session was the amount of state mandates pushed onto local school district each year. During his session, Martin stated that these mandates can create financial strain and administrative burdens, especially on rural districts like Santa Fe. Another big focus was regarding changes to the Missouri Schools Foundation Formula, which determines state aid by calculating a district’s target funding and subtracting local revenue effort. Senate Bill 3 and its placement on the ballots for the Tuesday, April 7th election were also brought up and discussed as well.