ASBSD: Rounds Admits One-Time Money Affects Reserves

My Sitemeter stats show some referrals from Open Forum, the official blog of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota. I backtrack and find a very interesting post about Governor Rounds's response to a January letter to the editor from Doland superintendent Jerry McPartland to the Doland Times Record. (Governor Rounds doesn't want to testify in court about education funding, but at least he's putting his disagreements in writing for the local press.) ASBSD says the Governor admits that one-time money results in temporarily increased reserve fund balances, as the agencies receiving that money take time to figure out how best to use it:

Superintendent McPartland referenced portions of our statement throughout his letter to the editor, including the following statement:

According to research provided by the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, since 1998, school district fund balances statewide have decreased by more than $25 million. Over the same period, state reserves have increased from $43 million to $133 million.

To that, Gov. Rounds responded:

What ASBSD failed to tell Mr. McPartland is the state received a one-time payment in 2004 in the amount of $66.3 million as part of the President's fiscal relief program. That money was placed into the property tax reduction fund. ASBSD also failed to tell Mr. McPartland my proposed budget calls for an ending balance of $99.7 million in the property tax reduction fund and the budget reserve combined.

Well... that's a positive step forward. We appreciate Gov. Rounds now says that one-time money has an impact on reserves, and that it might take up to five years to plan on how best to spend one-time funds [ASBSD, "Gov. Rounds: One-Time money Impacts Reserves," Open Forum, 2008.02.26]

The state gets to save its money and plan ahead, but Governor Rounds expects schools to burn through their pittances from Pierre immediately. Makes sense, from a Machiavellian point of view: the less cushion the schools have, the more beholden they'll be to the powers above.

A couple side notes: this Open Forum post goes on to argue that Governor Rounds is dedicated to defending the status quo, as evidenced by his arguments with Rutland Superintendent Carl Fahrenwald and Senator Sandy Jerstad (D-12/Sioux Falls). Note that Supt. Fahrenwald weighs in with a response in the comments section. The Governor asks for examples of disrespect from Pierre; Supt. Fahrenwald points to the TCAP money:

The strings attached to this money (rather more like towropes) are not at all appreciated as these TCAP rules and procedures serve as ready evidence of the utter lack of respect for the teaching profession (at least at the K-12 level)....

With TCAP dollars for teachers it is assumed from the onset that not all deserve nor should get these additional dollars. With state employees, all who qualify for the mid-point adjustment (however the system defines it) simply get this additional money by definition. [Dr. Carl Fahrenwald, comment on "Governor Questions Superintendent's Intelligence, Honesty, and Commitment to Students," 2008.02.26].

Dr. Fahrenwald writes more, and it's worth reading. Governor Rounds, your reply is welcome....

Open Forum also notes and congratulates yours truly on my decision to run for the Madison Central School Board. Thank you, Open Forum... although I wonder if I ought to be nervous about the establishment noticing my humble political aspirations. Stay tuned.... ;-)