Public school districts across Iowa face budget challenges from rising costs and falling enrollments. Creston Community Schools in rural southwest Iowa serves 13-hundred students, but Superintendent Deron Stender (DARE-in STEND-er) says they’ve lost 50 to 60 students a year for almost a decade. Stender says the state supplemental aid that pays for their programs hasn’t kept pace with inflation for years.
He says the challenges put pressure on the district to maintain quality education, and it’s looking at how to keep providing the same opportunities for students. Iowa’s largest school district is losing nearly 600 students a year. Matt Smith, interim superintendent of the Des Moines Public School District, says enrollment is the primary source of revenue for public school districts.
He says last year they hired less staff and closed two buildings to make 17-million dollars in budget cuts. This year, Smith says they’ll look at similar ways to save money and preserve programs. Both made their comments on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk of Iowa.”
