Greg Lynam of the Finance Committee had sent me a primer on school funding some time ago and I thought I would share it with you. It is somewhat complicated but very well laid out in the presentation. The whole thing is lengthy and I will break it up into several posts for the sake of space. Here goes!
Down Quick & Dirty :
The DOE constructs an education budget for ALL the public school children of Dartmouth – regardless if they attend here, or at the Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School or the Bristol County Agricultural High School.
This budget is generated by assigning specific and different dollar amounts to each student in each of 14 grade levels or categories, such as Elementary, Middle, High School, Special needs, Vocational, etc. EVERY single city and town in the Commonwealth receives EXACTLY the same amount of money for ‘a’ child in ‘a’ particular category.
The differences between communities local school foundation budgets lies in the dispersion of children among the various categories in the schools ... AND the number of students attending the local schools vs the number of students attending the regional schools. In short, the money goes to school where the student goes to school.
The DOE acknowledges that these differences can cause gyrations in excess of $1K per child in Per Pupil Expenditures [ PPX ] from one community to the next. This is both normal and expected.
Who pays what portion of this “ Foundation Budget “ is determined by a State formula that calculates Dartmouth’s share of the cost based on what we paid the previous year, times a multiplier based on our calculated rate of growth .... this multiplier is called the Municipal Revenue Growth factor. The remaining share is picked up by the State in the form of Chapter 70 monies [educational aid ]
The respective shares of the “Foundation Formula“ are then further sub-divided, on a per pupil basis, to direct the funds to those educational facilities that the students attend, such as the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, Bristol County Agricultural High School or our own local school system. The States Chapter 70 monies are sent directly to the school district the student attends. Thus, the money goes to school where the student goes to school.
In Dartmouth’s case, the States share is currently 28.78% of the Foundation Budget amount. By contrast, for New Bedford it is 86% of the Foundation amount.
This primer lays out how the foundation budget is determined for each district. Other amounts such as Minimum Net School Spending, the Local Required Contribution, etc. will be covered in subsequent posts. As I said this was sent some time ago and while accurate as to methods, some of the percentages and such may have changed. I have presented it here as a tool for understanding the process rather than the final word on the actual amounts.
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17 comments:
Bill - any chance you or FrankG could address the way override money is allocated within the schools? It is my understanding that it can be moved into any line item, regardless of the voter's intent. Is this true?
I'll take a shot at this based on what I know about the laws governing overrides.
If an override question says, "Shall the Town of Dartmouth be allowed to assess an additional $x to run school y", for example, the money raised through an override can only be used for school y, but they can distribute it any way they want on the individual line items for school y.
If it phrased like the police question, which is only for 7 new full-time officers, one of which is an SRO, then it can only be used for that, but any needs associated with those 7 officers.
If it is phrased like question 4, "...for extracurricular athletic and music programs, and transportation", then those are the only things it can be used for, but distribution among those things is left to their discretion.
So, for question 3, "...for the purposes of funding the operating budget of the Public Schools for textbooks, computers, teachers, administrators, funding the operational costs of the Gidley Elementary School and the Cushman Elementary School, and future reconfiguration of the grade assignments of the Town’s elementary and middle schools", again, it can only be used for the things on the list, but it is still their discretion as to how much for each, and that can fluctuate as the needs of those things change.
It is not unusual for override questions to be what I call "vaguely specific", so the voter knows where their money is going in general, but left flexible enough so the recipient is not pigeon-holed into not being able to adapt to changing needs.
This is not like a Capital or Debt Exclusion where the need is very specific, and the time frame is finite. However, you will notice that the DE on the ballot doesn't list the amounts for each of the components, even though that has been expressed at the SB meetings. My guess is that is to allow flexibility where there usually isn't any.
Override, CE, and DE money cannot be used for anything not mentioned in the article listing though. I hope this is a little helpful.
Clear and understandable! Thanks! (How about a run at government yourself???)
The debt exclusion amount is not listed because they can't know the exact amount and they won't borrow the money all at once. For example, they won't borrow all of the money for the Quinn windows right away, only the amount to engineer and spec the job out. Once the bidding is done, they will borrow the rest to get the job done. This saves money on interest. This is an over simplification. The total amount for the debt-exclusion is estimated at around $3.2million.
Also it is important to note that the debt-exclusion amount of $3.2m will be spread out over ten years and only equates to $320k per year. After the tenth year, it will be paid off and REMOVED from the tax levy.
Dartmouth - Thanks for the confidence. So I can assume that if I ran for something I would get at least 4 votes... assuming my wife and my brother voted for me? :)
barry - I just re-read the DE question and noticed it doesn't include any amount for the cost associated with it, unlike the presentations at the SB. With what you know, does this mean we are essentially giving them a blank check?
Not that I am against it, but I like to be clear about what I vote for, or against for that matter.
Frank, The number for the debt-exclusion won't be on the ballot. I'm going to trust them on this one. I really want to see them move forward on the Quinn windows. It's probably a two year process. Also, you can count on at least five votes if you run. I'ld vote for you too.
frankg, I agree with Barry that the debt exclusion amount cannot be included because the amount of the bond is not known. I will try to find a guide or law that specifies how these things must be done.
Bill T I would like to ask why you will not support the school override. I believe our schools have demonstrated a long history of spending efficiently based on per student spending. Even our oft criticized administration has an overall budget which is 25% lower than the state avg. The DSMA raises over $200,000 every year to support all the extras that allow them to travel to competitions, pay for props, food lodging etc. I wish at DHS events there would be an announcement to acknowledge these efforts so taxpayers in the audience realized they are not paying for more than the salaries in many cases. Barry Walker stated at a school committee mtg after the CFRG was able to examine the School budget that while he might rearrange the distribution of funds within the pie he recognized that the pie was not big. I've no doubt every one would arrange that pie differently but I think there is general agreement that the pie is not too large. We have decent people working across the town and in the schools and I want to know what the schools have done to garner such mistrust. Why they do not deserve relief from this fiscal crisis. I have had kids in the schools for 9 years and have never seen any glaring waste. The grounds, the buildings are maintained to a bare minimum standard. Landscape plants, playgrounds , field trips and in school workshops are all paid for with private fundraising. Where in the budget are taxpayers being abused. It saddens me to live in a town where I am embarassed to put a sticker on my car in support of schools because there is genuine resentment about our tax money going to support schools. We have a budget that has remained well below the avg per student spending year after year and this override will not change that fact. What do you see in our schools future? What has been done to hold back your support?
Anonymous, It is your premise that I do not support the schools that is in error. In the current fiscal situation, the town and schools must focus on their core functions. New spending must be closely examined for impact on the future. Can we afford it now and going forward? I think that extracurricular activities such as sports and band are valuable and I hope we can find ways to fund them. But we must set priorities if we are to live within our budgets. Extracurricular activities are just that extra. There is no funding in the state DOE foundation budget formula for these activities. I think if the schools can provide an adequate physical plant, teachers, and textbooks and still have money for these activities then it is good. But to spend on them to the detriment of classroom instruction and adequate teaching materials is not justified in my opinion. The override question for the schools adds employees when we cannot sustain the current budget. How will we pay for those additional salaries and benefits in the future? That is the critical question that must be addressed. The voters have shown little appetite for increasing revenue through overrides. Now as we enter into difficult times (recession) nationally, the ability to raise revenue through tax increases which require voter approval becomes an even steeper hill to climb. I am trying to be realistic about the ability of the town to raise revenue and sustain it's operation. Even if the override questions pass, we need to trim costs or another override will be needed. Will the voters approve the next one? I think they won't. So we must prioritize our spending, focus on the core functions of all departments and share the burden. That said, I am running for Select Board and not School Committee. The School Committee and administrators have the only say in how the money allocated to the school budget gets spent. The school department will get an additional $1.625 million dollars this year since their mandated funding will be increased. No other town department, with the possible exception of the police, will get additional funding, most will see severe cuts. Many of the departments also provide critical services to our town. The question then becomes, how do we allocate the money we have? We have competing needs and I think that all departments must share in reducing the rate of expense increases. We have to look at our budgetary needs across the town without emotion. We have limited resources, we have limited ability to increase those resources, how can we maintain the core functions of government, including the schools, within those means? That's how I am trying to judge things.
The school portion of the override is worth $119/year or $29/quarter for the average $300k Dartmouth house.
Is this community so poor that this is an obstacle that cannot be overcome?
All the other issues as they relate to revenue generation posted above continue to be ignored and dismissed in favor of the 'we can't afford it' argument.
Bill T. Why is it that you continue to refer to close to half the voters (approx. 5,000 people) as "little" support? There's not much question in my mind that if people were not mislead into believing they shouldn't trust the SB to follow through on their committment to shift the tax burden, were not mislead to believe that our schools would not be overcrowded by school consolidations, that approx. 1,000 seniors who would have benefitted from a $500 tax abatement (covering override costs and beyond)were told to vote no, mislead to believe PAYT would not become a reality, the outcome of July's vote would be completely different. For these distortions and misrepresentations, I hold you/CFRG accountable regardless of how you repeatedly choose to dismiss it.
The problem with overrides is that they do not address the underlying problem which is that the rate of growth of spending is higher than the rate of growth of revenue. Failure to address the root cause will only prolong the crisis and that is why we have to rein in spending. Not because an override is too expensive, but because it, by itself, is not the answer. Adding to our expenses without fully understanding the future costs and how they will effect our ability to sustain our town and schools is how we arrived in this crisis. Continuing to do so adds folly to grief.
A recovery from a recession will not add to prop 2-12, new growth will lag the recovery by years, and possible new revenue from yet-to-be enacted taxes or changes to aid formulas cannot be relied on. The ad on teevee has the husband saying "you might be a winner" as the woman chops up her furniture. You can't run your home budget on money that you might be getting and we cannot run our town that way either.
The DOR has published a guide for prop 2-1/2 requirements and procedures. You can find it here
I encourage you to read it but I will excerpt a few items here. First from page 9, "a community may use all of the additional taxing authority provided by an approved override question so long as all appropriations for the purpose stated in the override equal at least the amount stated in the question."
And following that paragraph "The additional funds raised by the override are "earmarked" only in the first year."
It seems to me that the money is earmarked only for the first year or alternatively if earmarked for longer would only require at least that amount to be spent on the listed items from all appropriations. Hope this helps.
Thanks for responding to my question regarding a school override. It leads me to wonder what next year brings. If we get no school override we will make cuts. The schools are currently disseminating info. now regarding the cuts and at DMS music and language are at the top (being replaced by nothing remotely adequate) There is no after school activities to cut so I am wondering where that leaves us next year in your mind when we will face yet another deficit in the schools. Costs still outstripping revenues we must cut all non academic programs. (Really!!!!) With all this cutting there is still no monies available for textbooks etc. because we are drowning. If the SB raids the stab fund to help they along with the school committee will be demonized.
Can you envision where the schools will be in 3 years with no override????
My taxes went down this year, I guess due to the split tax. Do you still feel the residents of Dartmouth cannot bear $75-125 for the school override?
If you think of the school budget as a pie, and remove the piece that goes to sports and music, it would still make no sense to spend that money on books and academic materials. With costs projected to outstrip revenues for years to come they will need their own Stab fund.
You got it momof3 - we're coming for sports and music next! Can't afford it - priorities ya know!
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