Lisbon schools chief decries plan for attendance-based state aid

LISBON -- Lisbon School Superintendent Charles McShane spoke out against a plan to base state aid to schools on attendance.
McShane, in a statement issued Monday, said that a bill pending before the state House, H.B. 95, would tie funding for schools to the attendance rate of the district. State funding for the schools would be cut according to attendance, McShane explained.
Lisbon Schools have a 94-percent attendance rate, so the district would lose 6 percent of its state funding under this proposal, McShane said. Treasurer Cindy Altomare said this cut would result in a loss of about $90,000.
McShane said it's difficult to predict attendance, which is affected not only by individual illness, but also by things such as flu epidemics and "scares," such as the current furor over severe acute respiratory syndrome. Therefore, planning would be made more difficult because schools could not accurately predict how much they'd get from the state every year.
McShane said he believes the attendance model, if adopted, would provide fewer resources to schools at a time when they have greater responsibility.
McShane called on the state Legislature to fully fund education, and make sure any decisions don't jeopardize the academic progress in Ohio.