SANDUSKY — State funding for Ohio's K-12 public schools could finally become legal by the year's end. | Norwalk Reflector On Thursday, the Ohio House approved House Bill 305 with bipartisan support. The historic bill stems from three years of research by 16 school administrators and state Reps. Bob Cupp, R-Lima and John Patterson, D-Jefferson to overhaul the current system. The original bill was introduced in 2019.

SANDUSKY — State funding for Ohio's K-12 public schools could finally become legal by the year's end. On Thursday, the Ohio House approved House Bill 305 with bipartisan support. The historic bill stems from three years of research by 16 school administrators and state Reps. Bob Cupp, R-Lima and John Patterson, D-Jefferson to overhaul the current system. The original bill was introduced in 2019. House Bill 305 is a companion bill and identical to Senate Bill 376 in the Ohio Senate. In 1997, the state Supreme Court ruled, in the DeRolph v. State of Ohio case, that the public school funding system is unconstitutional. The decision was most recently reaffirmed in 2002. Ohio's existing school funding system lacks a way to determine both the cost of educating students and how the funding of education is shared between the state and local taxpayers. House Bill 305 proposes to revamp Ohio's school funding formula by revising the components of base cost for an evidence-based amount, per student, to operate a public school district. This base cost includes resources for professional development for teachers that address the health, safety, social, and emotional needs of students, academic and athletic co-curricular activities and technology used in today's education. The legislation also adjusts the distribution formula for schools by using both property and income wealth to determine the local share. Lawmakers hope to secure Gov. Mike DeWine's approval by the end of the year. If signed into law, the new funding plan would be implemented with the 2021-22 school year and take full effect by June 30, 2028. State Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, voted in favor of the bill. "I was proud to stand with my colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to pass this significant model, which serves as a true commitment to help give our students across this state and within Erie and Ottawa Counties a better quality education," he said. Hundreds of Ohio school districts and education organizations, like Ohio Association of School Business Officials, Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio Federation of Teachers and Ohio Education Association, back the bill. Locally, administrators at Norwalk, Monroeville, Margaretta, Benton-Carroll-Salem, Huron, Sandusky and Perkins schools made it clear they support the legislation. Norwalk Schools treasurer Joyce Dupont said she's concerned with her district's decreased state funding in recent years, which was worsened by the pandemic. Within the last two years, state funding was cut by more than $449,400 each year, or three percent of the district's total state aid. "The Fair School Funding Plan is still a shared responsibility for school funding between the local community and the state, but each district is considered on its own community's fiscal capacity, determined by a mix of property wealth and income wealth," Dupont said. "State funding follows the student to the district in which they are educated; no more pass-through deductions for charter schools, private schools, vouchers, scholarships or open enrollment that take local tax dollars along with state funding and sends those dollars to other communities." Monroeville Schools superintendent Ralph Moore and treasurer Stephanie Hanna gave their support. "We believe the plan is fair for students and taxpayers, eliminates arbitrary caps on funding increases, reduces artificial guarantees and respects local control," the pair said in a news release. "For the first time in my 40-year career, there could be a formula people will understand," Perkins Schools treasurer Dan Bowman said. "The formula is well thought out and is based upon actual costs of doing business." Huron Schools treasurer Randy Drewyor said it's a "major improvement" to the current funding model. "The plan takes into account how local wealth is determined in order to define local capacity to support public education and does a fairer job in distributing resources for open enrollment and community school students," he said. "If funded properly, the Fair School Funding Plan should make forecasting district revenues more predictable and allow better long term planning." Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools treasurer Cajon Keeton was among the eight school treasurers who developed the plan. "The current funding system is flawed, and its provisions have no objectively determined relationship to cost or need and added the plan is fair for students and taxpayers, eliminates arbitrary caps on funding increases, reduces artificial guarantees and respects local control," Keeton said. At a recent special meeting, Sandusky Schools board members approved a resolution supporting the proposed school funding plan. Sandusky Schools receives 37 percent of its annual operating revenue from local property taxes and just under 50 percent from the state, treasurer Jeff Hall said. With state cuts from earlier this year due to COVID-19, Sandusky Schools is projected to receive below its 2018 funding level. House Bill 305 now heads to the Ohio Senate for consideration.