The Montezuma County Board of Commissioners has decided to stick with its current Secure Rural Schools funding allocations for the time being.
Secure Rural Schools funds are provided through the U.S. Forest Service as a way to support rural communities affected by declining timber revenues after stricter regulations were implemented in the 1980s, according to the National Association of Counties.
Funds are divvied between Montezuma County and local school districts – the county is required to give 25% to the Road and Bridge Fund and 25% to the school districts based on attendance, according to County Administrator Shak Powers. The remaining 50% is discretionary, but has historically been given to the school districts, again divided by attendance.
County commissioners were considering the possibility of changing the discretionary funds’ allocations. They opted not to do that this year after a request from the three local superintendents, who said their budgets have already been set.
On July 2, commissioners met with superintendents of Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores and Mancos school districts to discuss how funds have been used and specific district needs, especially in terms of campus safety. One option proposed was to combine the discretionary funds into one lump sum, for distribution to a specific district based on need in a particular year.
After deliberating with one another and their respective school boards, the three superintendents decided they would like to maintain funding streams for this fiscal year. Their budgets were set in July, with the expectation they would receive certain funding allocations from the SRS fund, said Re-1 Superintendent Lori Haukeness.
The other two district leaders voiced support of this opinion, although Dolores Superintendent Lis Richard requested some additional county support in light of the recent challenges seen over the last year – including campus flooding and leadership turnover.
Dolores is also looking to undertake a large-scale campus renovation in the near future, similar to the construction currently under way in Mancos.
Commissioners said this was a possibility, appreciating the request and difficult situation of the Dolores school district.
This July, the county received a little less than $181,000 from the Secure Rural Schools Fund. On Tuesday, commissioners approved the original proposal for funding allocations, with about $45,200 going to the county, $95,900 to Montezuma-Cortez, $24,400 to Dolores, and $15,400 to Mancos.
ealvero@ the-journal.com
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