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09/06/2017 08:15 AMWith no state budget currently in place, the latest proposal from Governor Dannel Malloy shows that many towns would see a reduction in Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) funding, the state’s primary support for local schools. North Haven received $3,842,088 in 2017, but under the governor’s plan would receive $0 in 2018—but under a proposed House Democrats plan, the ECS funding would rise to $3,942,939.
ECS funding is determined by a formula used by the state to calculate how much money is appropriated to each town, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Cronin.
Cronin said that nothing is set in stone yet. Malloy’s proposal will go into effect by Oct. 1 if the legislature hasn’t yet adopted a budget. At press time, the House Democrats plan presented Aug. 23 was awaiting House adoption, revision, or denial before possibly heading to the State Senate and governor.
Cronin said that if the funds are taken away, it will have an effect on the Board of Education (BOE) budget. He is working with other officials on ways to fill the potential void.
“My top priority is to not impact students and classrooms, and I really will do everything in my power unless I’m left with no other alternatives,” Cronin said.
Cronin said that he was limited on what he asked for originally in this fiscal year’s budget, saying that he did not bring in some new plans for the district because it didn’t seem like it was the year to do them.
In addition to that, Cronin said a spending freeze is going to be put in place, and line items in the budget are being reviewed to see if there’s any money that can be taken to build up funds in the event of a full loss.
“We were guarded on what we asked for originally. We have put a freeze on what we’re spending now, and we are going through each of the line items and looking at how to best prepare. I know we’ll have more conversations about that at the September board meeting as well,” Cronin said.
Cronin said he thinks the funding from the state will be reduced, but is hopeful that the town won’t lose all of it. He also said he would work with First Selectman Michael Freda on the issue.
Freda said that 25 percent of ECS funds are received in the fall, with another 25 percent received after the first of the year, and the remaining 50 percent balance toward the end of the fiscal year.
“So we’re juggling potentially a cash flow issue here, and we have to support education,” Freda said.
Freda said that the town could hold out until October to see what happens at the state level, but if all ECS funds are lost, he will meet with Cronin to determine the next steps. Those next steps would be to determine how to assist the BOE by borrowing from the town’s general fund to sustain education and to see if Cronin has a plan to run the school system without ECS funds.
“Neither of those are good options because a distribution out of the find balance adversely affects our credit rating, and it could deplete our town savings account,” Freda said.
What Freda is hoping for is that the governor’s proposal does not go through, and another outcome of a collaborative budget between the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the governor’s office doesn’t affect North Haven as much as the governor’s budget.
The town still has to watch out for the teacher’s pension payments, which Freda said the governor wants to pass down to municipalities, adding that would “really cripple even the well-run towns, like North Haven, financially.”
On the town side, Freda said it had already lost about $1.4 million in state funding in the past few years.
“I was able to absorb that, still with no tax increases, because of the fact that we had been balancing budgets and delivering surpluses—we rolled those over,” Freda said, who is seeking re-election in November. “We grew revenue in the grand list by bringing new business in, and we decreased costs on the insurance side.”
About ECS
The ECS grant—originally developed as a way to equalize educational opportunities across the state by taking into account a municipality’s ability to raise property taxes to pay for education—is the primary way the state helps municipalities fund their schools. According to an issue brief from the State Office of Legislative Research, the first ECS formula was enacted in 1988 after a court ruling in the mid-’70s ordered the state to create a better formula for education aid.
The amount of money given to a municipality by the grant is theoretically determined by multiplying various factors such local property wealth and number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, though how the formula has been implemented (and possibly the formula itself) appears to have changed dramatically, sometimes from one year to another.
Unsurprisingly, the logic or fairness of the formula has been the subject of debate. In 2016, the Connecticut Superior Court reviewed the formula in a case brought by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) v. Rell. CCJEF asserted that “the state’s failure to suitably and equitably fund its public schools has irreparably harmed thousands of school children.” The court determined that while the idea of the formula used at the time was logical, the theory does not match the reality, pointing to instances in 2016 where some poorer towns were cut while some wealthier towns received increases. The court ordered the state to draft a new plan for the distribution of education aid, but the ruling was appealed by the state and the state’s Supreme Court will now hear the decision.
With no ruling on the formula, the state is currently working through another budget under the existing model.
Courier Staff Writer Zoe Roos contributed to this story.