Hutchinson ? A top financial expert in the Kansas Department of Education is predicting another difficult funding year for public schools.

Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis told a group of educators in Hutchinson on Tuesday that the state is likely to face additional revenue gaps next year. Dennis says that’s because federal stimulus money will have run out and property valuations have declined.

The Hutchinson News reports that Dennis believes the state must come up with an additional $400 million to meet its court-ordered education funding responsibility in fiscal 2012.

The figure should be close to $4,500 per student in the current year, but is only $4,012.