Middletown getting full $19.52M grants in final budget

The state’s 30 neediest school districts will get this year what they got last year from the state while all other school district aid will be trimmed by 5 percent.

But no school district gets zeroed out as it would have under the budget advanced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

“We are grateful that the legislators were finally able to pass a budget that, for the most part, does not attempt to solve the state’s fiscal problems on the backs of our students and local taxpayers.” said Jim Richetelli, a former Milford mayor and current chief operating officer for Milford Public Schools.

The $1.986 billion Education Cost Sharing grant package approved by the Senate and the House Thursday is cut by some $31.4 million statewide in this fiscal year.

Middletown got good news: $19.52 million in grants — the same as last year.

Middletown Superintendent of Schools Patricia Charles was very pleased to learn the city’s funding won’t be cut. Although she hasn’t had a chance to delve into the numbers, Charles said the board would see a slight increase — 2.6 percent — earmarked for adult education.

“All superintendents have been waiting to determine exactly where we stand so that we can move forward with our budgets, and finally now with a budget, there’s some closure to this craziness that we’ve been going through since July 1,” Charles said.

“Finally ... there’s some closure to this craziness.” Middletown Superintendent of Schools Patricia Charles

“It’s really problematic for a school system to not have a budget. You can’t plan, you don’t know what decisions in our budget are going to stay or go, so now we have something definitive and we’ll be able to move forward from here,” she said.

Some cuts still run deep. A 5 percent cut to Stratford amounts to just over $1 million: The district would get just shy of $20.4 million in the first year. In the second year, the district stands to gain it back and then some, receiving $21.9 million.

“This is certainly an improvement from the $21 million cut imposed by the governor’s executive order,” Stratford Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson said.

“Since we also do not have a town budget, I am not certain how ECS will be handled by the town,” she added.

Bridgeport, which said it needed millions more to stay ahead of rising costs, remains flat-funded at $181.1 million. In the second year, it gains $1.1 million.

Shelton would have lost it all of its $5.5 million ECS funding under the governor’s original budget. Now it loses $294,689.

“We are pleased that the legislators were able to craft a compromise which does not require the dismantling of our school district programs,” Shelton Schools Superintendent Chris Clouet said.

Fairfield, which would have lost its $1 million in education funding from the state, would instead lose $54,358 this year.

Fairfield First Selectman Michael Tetreau isn’t convinced the budget will finally become law.

“I have not heard any indication of what the Governor will do,” Tetreau said. “Last time it took two weeks to get the proper documentation to him before he decided to take action.”

The budget approved by the legislature on Thursday, on the surface, seems less damaging to Fairfield than past versions, Tetreau said.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents many cities and towns in the state, called the adopted ECS formula more progressive and predictable than what was previously approved by the legislature and designed to be more reflective of what is occurring in the communities.

In the second year, the grant formula takes into account enrollment, low income students and a municipality’s wealth.

The budget also maintains priority grants to needy school districts but the overall amount for that budget line has been reduced to $31.6 million from $38.1 million. A softer blow to higher ed

The University of Connecticut, meanwhile, gets cut by $143 million over the course of the biennium, a far cry from the $309 million reduction it would have suffered under a Republican budget vetoed by the governor last month.

“This budget is without question an improvement over what was approved in September,” Stephanie Reitz, a university spokeswoman, said. She said a $309 million cut would have been catastrophic for the university.

Still, Reitz said, a $143 million cut remains significant and will have an impact.

In an email sent to the UConn community on Thursday, President Susan Herbst said the new number will have a significant negative impact on the university and will mean difficult decisions.

“If the reductions in this budget become law, I will work with our faculty, staff and board of trustees as we continue to take steps to protect our core academic mission,” Herbst wrote. “There is no hidden financial resource we can tap.”

Instead, she said UConn would freeze hiring while protecting research and teaching needs. The university will also delay certain projects, including construction of the new Science Complex.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education, takes a $14 million cut, bringing it to $308.95 million this year. Next year, the block grant for the system of 17 colleges and universities would be reduced again to $297.7 million.

“There was always a chance there would be a significant cut to our general fund appropriations,” Maribel La Luz, a system spokeswoman, said. “It's one of the many reasons we are taking steps to restructure our system so we are on a sustainable path in the future.”

The budget does salvage the Roberta Willis Scholarship which provided financial aid to state residents going to public or private colleges at a funding level this year of $35.3 million. Teacher retirement fund stays put

The approved budget would not require municipalities to contribute to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund as the governor sought.

It does require teachers to start paying more into the fund. Beginning in January 2016, they would pay 7 percent of their annual salary instead of 6 percent.