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Show Scliool operating fundo up 11.1 for 70 Operating funds available in the Beaver School District next year are expected to total $8,589,434. This represents rep-resents an increase of $857,-906 $857,-906 or ll.lfrom the amount available during the current 1975-76 school year. This estimate is contained in a study of 1976 legislation affecting education recently completed by Utah Foundation, Founda-tion, the private research organization. The report points out, however, that these totals do not include operating funds obtained from election leeway levies, Federal grants, special -purpose levies, etc. It is expected that Beaver School District will be able to finance an operating program pro-gram of $879 per weighted pupil unit next year, compared com-pared with a program of $779 per weighted pupil unit in 1975-76. According to the Foundation Founda-tion analysis, more than 70 of the increased spending authorized for next year by the 1976 Budget Session will go for education. Approximately Approxi-mately 46 of the total increase in-crease in state expenditures for next year is accounted for by augmented state support sup-port of public school operations opera-tions and 25 is the result of increased appropriations for higher education. State aid for local school operations was raised by $27.8 million, or 13.4 by the 1976 Budget Session. Altogether, Al-together, Utah schools next year will have a total operating oper-ating program of $320.2 million, mil-lion, of which $234.8 million mil-lion will come from state aid and $85.4 million will be from local tax receipts. The Foundation report predicts that public school operating expenditures in Utah will treble over the next ten years and could approach ap-proach or even exceed $1 billion annually by 1985-86 if present cost trends should continue. The study notes that school enrollments in Utah, which have been more-or-less level during recent years, are once again beginning begin-ning to rise. By the mid-part mid-part of the 1980 decade, approximately ap-proximately 15,000 additional addition-al students will be entering the Utah school system each year. In addition, the study notes that general fund appropriations appropria-tions for higher education were set at $102,936,000 for the coming year by the 1976 Budget Session. This sum represents an increase of $14.6 million, or 16.5 above the adjusted level for 1975-76. 1975-76. Included in the final appropriation ap-propriation total for 1976-77 1976-77 is $1,822,000 in last-minute last-minute additions to the amounts allocated for higher education. These additions made by an amendment to the general appropriations act in the final minutes before be-fore adjournment of the 1976 Budget Session served to bring the overall appropriation appropria-tion total for higher education educa-tion close to the level recommended rec-ommended by the State Board of Regents. The report observed that no change will be made in general resident tuitions at Utah public colleges and universities uni-versities for next year. Increased In-creased tuitions were authorized, au-thorized, however, for nonresident non-resident students attending the University of Utah and Utah State University along with a substantial tuition hike for all medical school students. stu-dents. Recently, a Board of Re -gents study revealed that tuition and fees charged at the Utah institutions of higher high-er education are about ave-age ave-age to those charged to resident resi-dent students in otherMoun-tain otherMoun-tain States, but are considerably consider-ably below the Mountain States average in the case of nonresident students. |