New state dollars from school funding reform are starting to trickle down to local school districts. Now, those districts are deciding how that money can be best used for their students.

In Macon, the Meridian School District will get about $75-thousand in new state aid this year. Meridian Schools Superintendent Dan Brue says his district has done everything they could to keep their services in tact in recent years. So the extra money this year is going towards closing their budget gap.

Shelbyville Schools are receiving about $206-thousand in new state funding this school year. Shelbyville Schools Superintendent Denise Bense says with a bigger kindergarten class coming in this fall, part of their new money will go towards keeping those class sizes smaller.

The district is also looking at a new Reading / Language Arts curriculum at the elementary level. Bense says with even more state money to flow in the next few years, she hopes her district will reinstate a curriculum purchasing rotation.

Coming into the year, Shelbyville Schools were funded by the state at 62 percent adequacy, while the Meridian School District was as 67 percent adequacy.