Officials with Cherry Creek Schools say the financial future of public education funding in the state is becoming more and more uncertain.

The state recently took the rare step of embargoing $6.7 million in funding the district had put aside until January 2010, said Cherry Creek School Board Treasurer Jim O'Brien at a recent school board meeting.
"It appears unlikely that those funds will be released to the school district," O'Brien said.

The embargoed funds, he said, are in addition to the $1.7 million the state took back from per-pupil funds already paid to the district in the last fiscal year.
The bad economy also had led to a drop in tax revenues paid to the district, he said. During the last fiscal year, collection of specific ownership taxes declined for the third straight year, decreasing from $16.8 million to $15.9 million .

"This year, the budget weighs so heavily," said Cherry Creek School District Superintendent Mary Chesley in a statement. "It's not just a balance of the bucks, it's how do we balance maintaining educational excellence?"

The bleak financial out look comes despite recently passed bond and mill-levy measures. The funds from 3A and 3B, approved by voters in 2007, are not sufficient to offset deeper than expected state cuts, according to estimates from the district.

The picture for the 2010-11 school year is even more uncertain, O'Brien said. The state is estimating public education will have reduced funding next year in the range of $140 million to $350 million.

Joey Kirchmer: 303-954-2650 or kirchmerj@yourhub.com