Governor Scott Walker focused on school funding and school safety Thursday during a visit to middle and high school students in Gillett. Walker promoted legislation he signed this week to provide additional funding for low-revenue and thinly populated districts. In 2018-19, an estimated 144 districts across the state will receive an extra $100 per pupil in sparsity aid, while up to 107 districts are eligible to increase their base revenue from $9,100. The bill increases the per-pupil sparsity amount from $300 to $400 beginning in fiscal year 2018-19. The additional cost for sparsity aid is $6.5 million. The Gillett School District, for example, is slated to receive just over $61,000 in additional sparsity aid.
The bill would increase the low revenue ceiling to $9,400 in 2018-19 and then $100 additional every year after to 2022-23. Currently, the minimum that school districts can raise through state aid and local property taxes is $9,100 a year per student.