Danbury area ‘grateful,’ but some say schools still need more money
Danbury area leaders were largely pleased Thursday with the state aid their communities will receive under the budget the legislature approved on Wednesday.
Amounts varied depending on the town, but most municipalities received some increase in school funding, which the governor initially proposed freezing. Local leaders said there were no major surprises and that they had largely planned for the funds in
their budgets.
Danbury is the biggest winner, receiving about
$5.03 million more than the previous fiscal year. In total, the city will get almost $47.9 million, an 11.7 percent increase.
“I’m very happy that that has come to fruition,” Mayor Joe Cavo said. “I’m grateful to the legislature for working in a bipartisan fashion to understand the pressures and challenges cities and municipalities are facing throughout the state with education and other issues.”
The increase to Danbury includes about $2.58 million more for the schools. School board members noted at their Wednesday meeting that the state should be giving more to Danbury.
Board member Rachel Chaleski said she was disappointed in the failure of one bill that would have given Danbury schools millions more by immediately fully funding the education cost sharing formula.
“We need our state funds now, not 2028,” she said.
The only towns to see a decrease in school grants were Ridgefield and New Fairfield, which will get
$134 less. New Fairfield will get about $15,500 more in non-education aid.
Ridgefield schools will get $17 less next fiscal year, although the town will get almost $33,000 more in non-education grants.
Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said the state does not meet its commitment to the school funding formula. But he said his town will be OK.
“Bottom line, I look from year to year and this is exactly what at a minimum I had hoped to see,” he said. “I’m pleased and satisfied. The state has a lot of other issues that it’s dealing with, but for Ridgefield, this puts us in absolutely perfect condition.”
In Brookfield, the town will receive about $20,600 more, with a $100 increase for the schools. First Selectman Steve Dunn said he’s glad for the additional funds, but that the school district should get more money overall.
Brookfield schools are set to earn about $967,000, which is less than more comparable towns like Bethel, which gets about $7.9 million and New Fairfield, which receives $3.48 million.
“It’s a huge difference,” Dunn said. “I understand Bethel has more (students who qualify for) free lunches and things like that, but the difference just seems outsized compared to the difference in our actual income levels per capita.”
Bethel saw its state grants increase by around $31,900, with about $1,300 more going to the schools. That will help the school district address academic gaps due to COVID-19, First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said.
“Not everyone thrived under remote learning,” he said. “They have a lot of challenges to deal with in getting their school population up to speed. It’d be great to get more funding, but then again, we have a huge amount of federal funding coming in, too.”
Bethel can expect $9.89 million for the town and schools between the two latest federal coronavirus relief bills. Brookfield is getting $6.23 million, Danbury should see $71.3 million, New Fairfield at $7.97 million, New Milford is pegged for $18.9 million, Newtown may expect $10 million, with Redding getting $3.14 million and Ridgefield receiving $8.8 million.
In state aid, New Milford schools can expect almost
$5,400 more than the previous year. But non-education aid to the town stayed flat at around $472,000.
“We are appreciative of the additional funding coming for the educational piece, though we are disappointed in that we didn't receive additional municipal aid,” Mayor Pete Bass said.