Fwd: Net school spending (again)
Good Morning,
I have finally watched the video of the school committee meeting from May 28, 2015. To be perfectly honest, I could not believe the Mayor actually stated that the net school spending requirement districts must meet by law is 95%, not 100%. This simply is not true. Not only is the law pretty clear in my opinion, but I have had numerous conversations (phone and email) with individuals from the school finance office at the DESE and I have always been told the requirement is 100%.
It also appeared that the Mayor believed Lynn was unique and that it was impossible to fund the schools in Lynn at the 100% requirement. She appeared to believe that the only districts that were able to fund their schools at 100% were districts like Wenham, which is the district she used as an example. However, as I mentioned, there are over 90% of districts in the state that meet, and mostly exceed the 100% requirement. Just to give a few examples of how some other more comparable districts do (and you can see for yourself by looking at the following DESE compliance report):
Springfield met the 100% requirement in FY14 and is budgeted to meet it again in FY15.
Lawrence exceeded the 100% requirement in FY14 and is budgeted to exceed it again in FY15.
Boston exceeded the 100% requirement in FY14 and is budgeted to exceed it again in FY15.
Holyoke exceeded the 100% requirement in FY14 and is budgeted to exceed it again in FY15.
Brocton exceeded the 100% requirement in FY14 and is budgeted to reach 99% in FY15.
Lowell reached 97.8% in FY14, but is budgeted to reach 100% for FY15.
Patti mentioned Lynn historically meets only 95% of the net school spending requirement. Unfortunately, Lynn hasn't even met that for the past couple of years, which is why we are facing penalties. In fact, it appeared as though the Mayor would not be able to meet 95% again for FY16, which would result in another penalty. This, as you all know, is very disturbing. I understand the Mayor is in a difficult situation. However, it is a situation that is not going away. Therefore, in order to resolve the issue, she and city council members need to come up with better alternatives than continuing to underfund the schools by not meeting the 100% net school requirement. Otherwise, the situation will continue to worsen and I cringe to think about the financial standing of the city and schools when that happens.
I urge all of you to contact the school finance office at the DESE with any questions you have about the net school spending requirement and the law, as well as, where Lynn currently stands.
Thank You
Lori D'Amico
One thing we all need to keep in mind is the waiving of penalties at the commissioner's discretion under section 260, only applies to penalties incurred in FY13, 14, and I believe 15. Penalties incurred beyond that are the district's responsibility. Therefore, if the Mayor fails to allocate at least 95% for FY16 (and i believe she will) Lynn will not get any help or sympathy from the state. This would result in a loss of aid for our schools, as well as, millions carried over and added to FY17's requirement. How many new schools do you think the MSBA will approve for Lynn when that happens? How does the city expect to pay for new schools when they cannot afford the old current ones?
ReplyDeleteThat is my read on the situation as well.
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