Rural school districts and counties are preparing for the potential loss of funding from the Secure Rural Schools program.
The federal program provides financial support for rural county services, like schools and roads. But this year, the legislation still hasn’t passed Congress.
That could devastate rural school districts, especially smaller ones.
Klamath County Government Center on December 11, 2024.
Jane Vaughan/JPR
Jaime Green — superintendent of the Trinity Alps Unified School District in Weaverville, California — said his district uses the money for maintenance and transportation.
The district has budgeted for a bit of a funding gap, but Green said it won’t last long.
“We’re going to let a bus get a little bit older. We’re going to patch roofs instead of redoing them,” he said. “But that type of planning doesn’t last forever.”
And it’s not just schools facing big cuts.
Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot said his county receives about $6 million a year from SRS funding. Without it, he said there would be major impacts to county law enforcement.
“Basically, our entire patrol division is supported by those dollars now,” he said, “and without that funding...we wouldn’t be able to afford having a sheriff’s patrol division.”
DeGroot is in Washington, D.C., this week advocating to restore SRS funding, but he didn’t seem hopeful.
“The appetite to continue those payments is diminishing,” he said. “Right now, you’re hearing from a lot of folks that those payments are no longer going to be made.”
The Secure Rural Schools Act was passed in 2000 to help support rural counties that have a lot of federal land, which is exempt from taxes. Last spring, the Forest Service, which runs the program, issued over $230 million to 41 states.
The money must be reallocated by Congress every few years, but school officials say it should be more dependable.
“Education, especially things like Secure Rural Schools, shouldn’t be something that you have to go hat in hand asking Congress for across the country every year or two or three,” said Jeff Harris, superintendent of the Del Norte Unified School District and Del Norte County Office of Education. “It should be something that’s structured in a way that’s ongoing, potentially even self-funded.”
DeGroot said the situation in D.C. right now is “so chaotic.”
“Things are changing every single day,” he said. “Sometimes disruption is good, but at the same time, we need some kind of predictable, sustainable path forward for communities.”
Still, advocates hope the legislation will be voted on by the end of this month.
“This will be catastrophic to 700 counties,” Green said. “It’s worse than a hurricane coming through.”
Jane Vaughn is a reporter with the Jefferson Public Radio newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
