Winners, losers in school aid revamp

Governor Deval Patrick testified last month at an education hearing at the State House. (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

After a slew of budgetary cuts last spring and with another round of potentially bitter financial debates looming this winter, school officials in Groton and Dunstable say they are frustrated with the state's new school aid formula, which they argue is inadequate for educating the district's children.

Matters are different in the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, where Superintendent William Ryan is satisfied with the formula that has buoyed his schools' state funding dramatically since it took effect. Ryan said that the previous formula was always slanted against the school system - which includes a junior high and a high school - and that the recent changes are making amends for years past when the district did not fare as well.

"We were not being funded at the level we should have been," Ryan said recently. "I think the changes in the formula have made it more equitable."

The different vantage points between Groton-Dunstable and Acton-Boxborough, all relatively afflu ent towns with high property values and top-rated public schools, highlight an ongoing debate about the equity of the state's Chapter 70 school aid program, which comprises the largest chunk of state aid annually for most cities and towns.

Governor Deval Patrick recently proposed a $223 million increase in direct state school spending for next year - a 6 percent increase overall - but the gripes remain over how the money is allocated to individual districts. While some have been satisfied with the changes to the complicated Chapter 70 aid formula that took effect last year, others complain of having gotten the short straw.

Such concerns have plagued the aid program since its inception in 1993, said Heidi Guarino, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, adding that those raised in Groton and Dunstable are but another variation of the same theme.

"The goal is to make the formula as equitable as possible," said Guarino. "There were a lot of complaints about the old formula. We're trying to get it right."

Under the new formula, about one-third of the more affluent communities across the state will receive less state aid than they were accustomed to in years past. (The system for gauging affluence is based on property values and average household income.)

State Representative Patricia Haddad, a Somerset Democrat active in sponsoring the formula amendments, said the changes attempt to strike a balance between communities that have been underfunded and those that were funded in excess under the old system.

Each school district was given a target percentage of state aid under the new formula, based on its level of affluence. The percentage is based on each district's bare-minimum budget, known as a foundation budget. The formula also factors in increases and decreases in enrollment, awarding more money to those districts with growing enrollments and reducing it for districts with declining student populations.

Acton-Boxborough Regional currently has only 23 percent of its foundation budget funded by the state. Over the first five years of the new formula, the district will eventually be upgraded to a 31 percent state contribution, Haddad said. Between fiscal 2003 and this fiscal year, the Chapter 70 aid for the regional district has risen from $3.5 million to $5.6 million, climbing by just under $1 million in the last year, according to the Department of Education website.

Ryan said enrollment has climbed dramatically in his district in recent years. The high school saw its student population rise from approximately 1,600 in 2003 to 2,000 now, he said.

Meanwhile, the Groton-Dunstable school district has a 47 percent contribution from the state for its foundation budget that is gradually being reduced to 33 percent, said Haddad. According to the state website, the district obtained $9.1 million in Chapter 70 aid in fiscal 2003 and $10.7 million in fiscal 2008, which began in July.

"We're not pushing Groton down," said Haddad, the state representative. "We're letting them float to where they should be."

Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee chairwoman Cynthia Barrett said her district, which includes middle and elementary grades, has remained fairly flat in its enrollment in the last few years, which may explain partly why the district is not receiving as much state aid as Acton-Boxborough Regional.

Barrett said that because she has not researched the situation, she had no comment on Acton-Boxborough's substantial school aid increases in the last few years. But she said she was certain the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District is receiving less money than it needs.

"On the surface, the new formula seems more fair," she said. "The problem with the formula is it doesn't cover what you need for an adequate education."

Barrett did not have an exact amount for what is needed to adequately fund the district, but she said the state needs to adjust the formula to offset rising health insurance and special education costs.

Complaints like Barrett's have been surfacing across the state, said Haddad, who said the new formula is a "work in progress." Legislators may be revamping the legislation for years, particularly the foundation budget model, which is below many communities' expectations, she said.

"There's a lot more to study on it," said Haddad.

Matt Gunderson can be reached at mgunders@comcast.net.