A Missouri Senate committee has slashed the amount of money that’s to be used to keep Normandy schools open the rest of the school year.
The House last week passed the state’s supplemental budget, which included 5 million dollars for the Normandy School District, but the Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to cut that amount down to one-and-a-half million dollars.
Committee chairman Kurt Schaefer of Columbia expressed concern that 5 million was too much, and that it would be used to wipe out more of Normandy’s liabilities beyond just enabling students to finish the school year.
“First of all, we don’t have to fund this line at all, and the chips will fall where they will, but I think it’s the intent, and I think the people have expressed concern, that no one wants to see students not finish the school year,” he said.
The money would go to DESE, which would then give it to Normandy schools. The State Board of Education last month stripped the school district of its spending authority.
The decision to cut the funding request could be reversed before final passage. Senate committee vote comes just as the Normandy transition team is getting underway and the district is kicking off a community support week.