Decorah School District officials concerned about funding by state legislature

State funding is very important to the Decorah Community School District--and to every school district in Iowa.

So members of the Decorah School Board met Thursday with newly-elected State Representative Michael Bergan of Decorah to discuss the school-related issues that may come before the 2017 Iowa Legislature.

One big concern of Decorah school officials is their cost of transporting students to and from school.  Superintendent Mike Haluska says Decorah's per-student transportation costs are 63 percent higher than the state average.

Another concern is Governor Terry Branstad's proposal to require all public employees in Iowa to be part of the state's health insurance program.  In Northeast Iowa, many school district employees get health care from Mayo Clinic or Gundersen Clinic, out of state, and would be disadvantaged by a requirement to become patients of in-state medical providers.

Bergan thanked the school board for the chance to hear about such issues.  He is awaiting committee assignments in the legislature, but is meeting with various groups to learn more about issues being faced by the legislature.