The school district received $33.649 million in state aid for this school year, and the figure will increase to $39.084 million for the next school year.

"That's extremely good news," Harden said.

Five main factors caused the increase in state aid. Those factors are:

The Limited English Proficiency Allowance generated $642,000 in additional state aid.

The Poverty Allowance generated $1,563,000 in additional state aid.

The Allocated Income Tax funds generated $703,000 in additional state aid.

Enrollment growth generated $544,000 in additional state aid.

Growth in the standard cost grouping generated the remaining $1,983,000 increase in state aid.

Harden explained that the $5.435 million increase in state aid would be targeted at addressing the needs of students who caused the increase in revenue English language learners and poverty students who qualify for free or reduced price meals.

State law is increasingly requiring school districts who receive additional money to benefit English language learners and students who live in poverty to document that they are actually using the money for that purpose.

However, increasing spending to assist lower-income students "is more of an elusive thing" than targeting English language learners, Harden said. Lower-income students, for instance, could be helped by reducing class sizes in schools with larger percentages of students affected by poverty.

The increase in state aid will also help offset an increased cost of doing business: greater expenses for negotiated agreements with staff members and increases in expenses ranging from utility costs to textbook costs.

Approximately 80 percent of the school district's expenditures are for its staff members, Harden said.

The Grand Island Public Schools' state aid increased by $3.2 million for the 2007-08 school year, he said.

Increases in state aid do not necessarily lower the property tax levy for a school district. Schools districts must live under property tax levy lids. But if they drop the lid too far, they can lose state aid. That means there is often a narrow range for where the actual property tax levy can be set.