NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams School District stands to lose approximately $188,638 in state aid if the Mississippi Legislature passes a new education funding formula under consideration.

The Natchez-Adams district is one of 31 districts that stand to lose state aid money in a scenario drawn from a consultant’s recommendation to alter the Mississippi Adequate Education Program formula.

To reach the conclusions, The Associated Press took the base student cost, or amount allocated to educate a student with no special requirements, and then added extra per-student amounts proposed for special education students, gifted students, high school students and those learning English. Extremely rural districts also get an extra bump.

The state consultant, EdBuild, proposes increasing amounts of extra funding for special education students according to three increasing tiers of disability. Because those figures are not readily available, the AP’s estimate instead doubles the amount of money for each special education student as a way of providing an estimated amount. Superintendent Fred Butcher said uncertainty still exists as to what the Legislature will ultimately pass, if anything, from EdBuild’s proposal.

However, Butcher said if the district is faced with an approximately $189,000 cut from the state, the administration would opt to review its budget to find necessary cuts rather than request an increase in taxes, which might be difficult to accomplish.To make up the increase in taxes, the district would have to increase millage from 54.6 mills to 55.26 mills. However, to raise millage above 55 mills, the public would have to approve the measure in a ballot referendum.

For the owner of a $100,000 house, the change in millage would be an additional $66 in taxes.

Butcher said cuts would likely come from non-instructional areas including transportation, child nutrition services and maintenance.

Butcher said the EdBuild proposal does not outline enough specifics at this point for legislators and taxpayers to make an informed decision.

“We deserve to know exactly how our elected officials will incorporate the EdBuild recommendations into our school funding law and the potential impact these changes will have on our schools, before committing to any definitive decision on whether to support this proposal,” Butcher said. “We are recommending that each citizen contact their representative and ask them to not vote on the measure until we are provided specific details of the impact the proposal will have for our school districts.

“Also, citizens should request that their representatives vote against any measure that would decrease funding to school districts.”

Butcher said each year, school officials are required to implement more rigorous standards and mandated initiatives, all of which take increased funding.

“The state’s funding formula has not been fully funded for several years resulting in districts not receiving millions of dollars,” Butcher said. “Yet, districts are being required to do more with less each year.

“The future of our local and state economy will depend on the commitment of our state representatives to the future of education. We need our representatives to strongly consider the negative impact decreased funding would have on our educational system.”

School board member Phillip West said the state needs to do all it can to prioritize education.

“We have been last or near the bottom in education in the nation for too long,” West said. “I think the sad part is, some people in the state seem to be OK with us being last in the nation.”

West said he did not believe the Legislature should pass a formula that would cause any district to receive less funding.

Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, and Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, both said at this point legislators have not received detailed information on how the EdBuild proposal would impact each district.

Dearing said he plans to meet with education committee chairman Sen. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, next week to gauge how the school systems in his district will fair and will start formulating his decision from that point.

Mims said the goal of education funding needs to be in making certain more money ends up in the classroom where children will benefit the most.

“I think it is important that in the past 20 years, the MAEP formula has only been fully funded twice,” Mims said. “It is an unobtainable funding mechanism. It is smart for the education and appropriation committees to look at ways to make sure we are spending the money in the right places with education.

“I think at this point we are focusing on trying to put as much money into the classrooms for students as possible.”

The AP calculations use data from EdBuild, Mississippi Department of Education and the U.S. Census.