(Bismarck, ND) — Bismarck taxpayers will cover the cuts to Bismarck Public Schools funding. The district is losing 734-thousand-dollars in federal Title One funding, which is typically used for math and reading intervention programs in elementary schools. The funds are distributed based on higher poverty levels, and new state and federal formulas resulted in North Dakota’s poverty levels being reported as lower. This created a 103-thousand-dollar budget gap for the BPS district that officials say will have to be covered with local funds. Officials are now working to avoid district cuts while advocating for better funding formulas to avoid penalization for other fast-growing districts.
