Desegregation revenue that could bolster the Albert Lea School District will come from the state government, not the federal government, Albert Lea Superintendent David Prescott said Tuesday.

He said he had been under the impression Monday at the regular school board meeting that the desegregation program was federal dollars channeled through the Minnesota Department of Education, but since then he has learned that instead the money would come straight from state coffers.

Prescott said the fact still remains that Albert Lea would be able to get an additional $92 per student, an estimated $343,896 in revenue. The school district would front 30 percent of it and the state adds the other 70 percent.

That means the local requirement is estimated to be $103,169, or roughly $6 per year for an average property owner. Prescott said his calculations are based in this year’s students. The actual dollars, if the plan is approved, will be based on next year’s enrollment, determined in October 2009.

The school board has until spring to decide whether to pass the property tax levy. It has to send the application to the Minnesota Department of Education by April 15. Passing the levy would put the school district in a collaborative with the Austin and Southland school districts. Glenville-Emmons, Blooming Prairie and Hayfield are also considering joining.