Rural school officials press to restore sparsity cap index; fiscal office warns of statewide levy impact
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Summary
Proponents representing sparsely populated districts asked the committee to raise and index the sparsity maximum that has been frozen since 2013; the state Bureau of Finance and Management warned the change would increase state and local costs and the committee deferred action.
Senate Bill 70 would increase the statutory maximum sparsity benefit available to eligible small, sparsely populated school districts and index that maximum to the state education index beginning July 1, 2026. Senator Marty introduced the bill and proponents said the current cap — set in 2013 — was not indexed and that bringing the cap up to current indexed levels would restore funding the smallest districts say they have lost.
Dr. George Shipley Jr., superintendent of Bison School District, and Billy Clanton, Harding County school board president, told the committee that districts facing long bus routes and large geographic service areas rely on sparsity aid to cover transportation and staffing costs. Shipley said the 2013 cap should have been indexed and that bringing it to current dollars would increase the maximum to $175,000; he said 12 districts currently are at the cap and that 30 districts receive sparsity aid of various sizes.
Grant Judson of the Bureau of Finance and Management testified in opposition, estimating the change would raise the sparsity appropriation by about $780,000 and increase related levies statewide. BFM also said the increase would raise ongoing general fund costs by about $807,000 and that indexing the cap would cause the sparsity appropriation and levies to grow year‑over‑year. After questions about historical cap levels and levy impacts, the committee deferred action to allow caucus consideration.