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Show Doouor Dicirici schools to roGoiuo $1,433,012.00 Operating funds for the Beaver School District will increase by $161,914 or 1 2.7 next year as a result of actions taken by the 1977 Utah Legislature. Estimated operating funds in 1977-78 will amount to $1,433,612 or $933 per weighted -pupil unit, compared with $1,271,698 or $861 per weighted -pupil unit during the 1976-77 school year. It is also estimated that Beaver School District will receive $2,914 in state building build-ing aid under a new school building aid program approved ap-proved this year. These were some of the facts reported by Utah Foundation, Foun-dation, the private research organization, in an analysis of school financial trends within the state. The Foundation study points out that state and local funds for public school op erations in Utah have been rising at an average rate of 1 3 each year over the past several years. It notes that while part of this increase is due to inflation and high - er enrollments, a substantial part is attributed to other factors such as (1) higher salaries, (2) expanded benefits, bene-fits, (3) reductions in class size, (4) added noninstruc- tional personnel, and (5) the introduction of new programs. pro-grams. Projections made by Utah Foundation and other groups have indicated that school enrollments in Utah will climb by 100,000 pupils over the next ten years. Based on this estimate and assuming continuation of the cost trends of the past five years, school operating expenditures expendi-tures in Utah will exceed $1 billion annually by the 1986 87 school year. At that time, school costs in Utah will be rising at a rate of more than $130 million each year. Throughout the state, total operating funds for schools will rise from $317.4 million mil-lion in 1976-77 to $357.7 million in 1977-78. In addition addi-tion to this increase in operating op-erating funds, the 1977 Legislature Leg-islature also approved anew school building aid program which will allocate $11.4 million mil-lion in state building aid plus another $1 million for a loan fund to assist a limited number num-ber of school districts that are unable to complete building build-ing projects from existing resources. Utah's guaranteed basic school program was raised from $683 per weighted -pupil unit in 1976-77 to $732 per weighted -pupil unit in 1977-78. Increases were also provided for the voted leeway program, transportation, transpor-tation, retirement, and a number of special purpose grants, such as elementary music, gifted and talented students, career development, develop-ment, textbooks, and labfees, and experimental programs. New appropriations totaling $4.8 million were made for reducing classroom size, bilingual bi-lingual education, utilities and insurance, and teaching the responsibility of parenthood. parent-hood. According to the Foundation Founda-tion analysis, $53,515,171 was appropriated in 1977-78 1977-78 for school retirement and the employers share of Federal Fed-eral Social Security costs for school employees. Concern Con-cern about rapidly rising retirement costs for school and other public employees prompted the 1977 Legislature Legisla-ture to authorize an acturial study of Utah's retirement system. The study will be made to determine if state retirement benefits can be or should be coordinated with Federal Social Security benefits. |