EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Funding windfalls from the state government’s expanding coffers probably will not come to Excelsior Springs or other school districts, Superintendent Travis Hux warned district leaders April 11 at the Support Services Center.

Hux said during the Board of Education’s latest meeting that Missouri’s general income collection is $11.2 billion for fiscal 2022 – a state record and a $1.6-billion increase from 2021.

“But so far, no new dollars (have been) allocated to education,” Hux said. “So that should kind of help you understand the legislative situation for school districts. The Foundation Formula’s underfunded, transportation’s woefully underfunded. But no money for that.”

The Foundation Formula is the state’s “primary method of distributing money to public schools,” the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website states. The fund uses multiple criteria to determine how much money districts receive, including summer school availability for students, how many special needs or “disadvantaged” students are in a district and attendance, DESE information states.

Making the situation more challenging, House bill 3002 no longer has the $21 million earmarked to increase salaries for beginning teachers, Hux said.

“Just wanted to let you know that’s what school districts are facing right now,” he said.

Hux discussed HB 3002 further in a written report that included summaries of other pending educationoriented legislation in the General Assembly. In addition to citing no funding boosts for education-related transportation or the Foundation Formula, he cited proposals and expectations from Gov. Mike Parson in the bill. They included a request to earmark $20 million in stimulus money from the federal government “for capital improvement projects at K-12 career and technical education centers.”

“There’s a lot out there we’re keeping an eye on. … We’re hoping … to weather through this and not be beat up too bad for the next school year,” Hux said.