Loss of SRS Funds Hits Local Budgets
Secure Rural Schools (SRS) was a federal program implemented in 2000 that provided rural counties with sparse populations money because of the large amount of US Forest Service lands within their individual counties.
Counties with no US Forest Service lands typically are highly populated and have a large tax base to help pay for schools and road and bridge projects.
Money from SRS went to county road and bridge departments, to individual schools within each county and sometimes to emergency services.
In the schools, that money could be used as the individual school saw fit, to keep the lights on, to pay a portion of teacher salaries or aide salaries or to pay unforeseen bills or buy books. It was non-discretionary.
In 2023, Congress decided not to reauthorize money for Secure Rural Schools. Some counties got carry over funds or prior allotments in March of 2024, and this year, they received only a fraction of what they had received in the past.
Such is the case in Adams, Washington, and Idaho Counties.
So far this year congress has not reauthorized SRS despite Idaho Senator Mike Crapo urging them to do so. The Senate voted unanimously to reauthorize SRS last November, but the House did not.
Senator Crapo’s press secretary, David Pace, said that since Congress did not reauthorize Secure Rural Schools, the payments counties and schools receive reverted back to a law passed in 1906 that gave counties twenty five percent of timber receipts, which is an 89.1 percent drop in what they had been receiving.
Pace said, “If Congress reauthorizes the SRS program, then special provisions Crapo is leading with US Senator for Oregon Ron Wyden (as well as Senators Jim Risch and Jeff Merkley) will allow the USFS to pay the difference between the 1908 payments which have already been allocated and the SRS allocation.”
Adams County Road and Bridge had been getting $482,890 but this year only received $48,000.
And the school districts, including, Council, New Meadows, Joint Cambridge, Midvale, and Joint Salmon River District fared even worse. Earlier this year, Governor Brad Little signed a bill that allowed tax credits for parents who chose to send their children to private schools. And while this year, that money comes from the state’s general funds, many worry that next year the amount will go up and be taken from public school funding.
Unless Congress reauthorizes SRS and if in fact state money is taken next year to pay for tax credits, rural schools in Idaho could be in financial trouble. Especially since there really are no private schools in rural Idaho and in most families, both parents work and are not available to supervise online learning for their children.
The breakdown of what schools received is SRS funding is as follows: Last year the Council School District received $128,004.40. This year they received $8,183.39.
Last year, Meadows Valley School District received $50,017.26 and this year they received $3,472.69.
Last year Joint Cambridge School District received $8,114.33 distributed by Adams County. This year they received $805.00. They also received $236.58 this year distributed by Washington County.
Last year Joint Salmon River School District received $3,479.33 and this year they received $179.59 distributed by Adams County. Last year they received $105,055.05 and this year they received $11,866.26 distributed by Idaho County.
Dee Fredrickson, Superintendent of Meadows Valley School District, said she was concerned about losing funding for rural schools, and added to that worry, is the fact that a number of Meadows Valley older students have opted to go to the McCall School District, where they have options to take different courses. But she said the Meadows Valley community is incredibly supportive of their school, and she expected the levy that will be voted on next week to pass.
Cambridge Superintendent Anthony Butler said that he was disappointed that they lost SRS funding, but that because that funding was never guaranteed, they didn’t rely on it.
