Governor, you don't need to be reserved about school reserves, still....

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: Governor Mike Rounds is again complaining about the increased school fund reserves. In a recent Associated Press story he said school officials who are putting extra money into budget reserves instead of teacher salaries or programs and should explain their decision to taxpayers. This is not a new issue. A few years ago it was discovered that some school districts in South Dakota had socked away millions of dollars instead of using that money for teacher salaries. That is when the Legislature put a cap on how much could actually be in those reserve funds. Also, a follow up on last week's column. Some recently published numbers prove the success of the state's alcohol bracelet program. (Full Story)