New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
School superintendents call on gov to supply more state funding
“By ‘pausing’ the ECS increase formula ... Connecticut adopts a financial strategy that will create large-scale disruptions for fiscal year 2024.”
Letter to Gov. Lamont from
CT school superintendents
Danbury schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella co-wrote a letter on behalf of a number of Connecticut school districts calling on Gov. Ned Lamont to supply their districts with more state aid after he put a hold on scheduled increases to the districts’ grant money.
The letter states the superintendents’ opposition to Lamont’s “pause” in state funding escalations in his proposed biennial budget, which would take more than $109 million away from Connecticut’s 53 Alliance District and urban schools, they claim.
The letter is co-authored by superintendents from Danbury, Meriden, Vernon and East Hartford and signed by numerous district leaders including those from Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwalk, Stamford, Middletown and Torrington, among others.
“As such, we urge you to reconsider this strategy and reinstate the original phase-in schedule for all Alliance Districts,” the letter read. Alliance schools are defined as the lowest performing districts in Connecticut, which are eligible for additional funds, according to the state.
“This shift will allow us to fund our general budget obligations, help cushion distressed municipalities from large tax increases, and avoid utilizing one-time federal funding intended for COVID-related purposes to fund ongoing operations,” it continued.
The state conceived a grant formula to give Alliance District schools and others in some urban districts representing “fiscally challenged communities” state funding to address a “persistent state achievement gap,” according to the letter.
These schools are typically awarded an increase in grant money annually to help provide vital services to students. However, Lamont’s “pause” will discontinue the planned increases leaving these schools at a loss.
Danbury was scheduled to see an increase of more than $2.5 million for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.
Lamont’s spokesman Max Reiss said more $440 million in federal funding is available to school districts across Connecticut including the state’s Alliance and urban districts.
Connecticut districts are also preparing to receive their slice of a federal COVID-19 relief grant, which they can use to supplement missing grant money for the next two years by infusing millions of federal relief dollars into their budgets for COVID-related expenses.
“These funds can and should be used for school leaders to provide the resources necessary to address the needs of the districts and focus on learning loss and recovery as well as continued safe reopening,” Reiss said. “The governor’s budget mitigates the need for broad-based tax increases, relying on federal aid and partial use of the state’s Budget Reserve Fund while the state’s economy and revenues continue to recover.”
While this aid helps relieve some pressure in the interim, superintendents said it will be burdensome to their long-term fiscal plans.
“By ‘pausing’ the ECS increase formula [grant money increases] and supplanting this phase in approach with funds not intended for general budget activities, Connecticut adopts a financial strategy that will create large-scale disruptions
for fiscal year 2024,” the letter read.
Using the federal aid from Congress will add to their current budgets, but leave a hole when that aid is no longer available in two years, forcing them to seek local and state help in filling their budgetary gaps.
When districts mitigate the “large financial shortfalls” associated with using the “one-time funding” from Congress, local governments will have to navigate the following three ripple effects.
Districts will either lean on already economically challenged municipalities to subsidize their funding, seek “massive increases in state aid,” or be pushed to reduce
supportive programs for students in the aftermath of the state’s grant cuts, the letter said.
“While we recognize that there are no easy answers, we are eager to engage with you and your team on helping design a sustainable, longterm financial plan that can preserve our states commitment to equity, stimulate academic recovery and best utilize the federal dollars,” the letter stated.
Reiss said as the budget process continues, the administration will “continue to engage with local stakeholders, those who work with students, and the General Assembly on a sustainable path forward.”