Story by Jonelle Merrill
jmerrill@abc4.com
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A house bill that could give the Jordan School District solutions to it's thirty million dollar shortfall passed with overwhelming support, just hours before the end of the 2010 legislative session.
House Bill 295 will now allow Utah schools to do something they've never done before: to take money from one fund and move it to another. It's good news for parents like Chris Merrill who worries about the future of the Jordan School District. "It gives us some options and that's what we need as a school district, instead of being forced down a path," says Merrill.
The bill will make it possible for the Jordan district to take between five and ten million dollars from their capital fund, which covers building and repair costs, and put it in their general fund, which covers teacher salaries and the cost of materials.
How that five or ten million will be spent is ultimately up to the school board, according to the Jordan District. In the end though, they hope it gives them more spending flexibility. In a statement released Friday, the Jordan District says, "We are encouraged that the tools given to public schools by the legislature will enable us to achieve a balanced budget."
Teachers at Bingham High School call House Bill 295 a silver lining. "Bottom line, if teachers don't get fired or laid off, and the class sizes don't increase, and we don't lose prep periods, regardless of how we come to that, then we're okay," says Dave Peck, a teacher and football coach at Bingham High.
The co-author of the bill, representative Carl Wimmer, says this is only a temporary fix. We had to do something to stop the bleeding with the Jordan School District and this has stopped the bleeding, but it's not a permanent solution."
Wimmer adds that schools will only be able to move funds around for two years. In the meantime, Wimmer insists legislators need to come up with a more permanent budget solution.
