"Chapter 70 and Local Education Funding"

at the Worcester Registry of Deeds for the WEC/Research Bureau presentation on the Chapter 70 formula and local education funding. With Luc Schuster from Mass Budget and Policy, Ben Forman from MassINC, Tom Zidelis from the City of Worcester, and Brian Allen from the Worcester Public Schools.

Funding public ed breakfast Wednesday!

While I do plan to liveblog it, if you can make it, I'd really recommend coming to the funding public education breakfast presentation here in Worcester on Wednesday:

Part I: Chapter 70 and Local Education Funding

November 12, 2014 - 7:45-9:00 a.m.

Worcester County Registry of Deeds, 100 Front Street, Worcester

Panelists

• Brian Allen, Worcester Public Schools
• Benjamin Forman, MassINC & Gateway Cities Innovation Institute
• Luc Schuster, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
• Thomas Zidelis, City of Worcester
• Timothy McGourthy, The Research Bureau, Moderator

Kindly RSVP to 508-799-7169 or

info@wrrb.org.

Joint Committee (City Council Education/School Committee Finance and Operations): Budget update

You can find our (the SC side) agenda here.
updating once we're under way
Foley: updates on some discussions that we've had
Allen: current status relative to Net School Spending
you can find it here

Funding Public Education (in Worcester)

Not one, but TWO upcoming presentations from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau:

Funding Public Education 

Each year, the Commonwealth calculates a Foundation Budget that establishes minimal levels of education funding in individual cities and towns across Massachusetts. Simultaneously, local officials work to identify and allocate funds for public schools. Join The Research Bureau and the Worcester Education Collaborative to learn how state and local funding for public education is determined. 

Part I: Chapter 70 and Local Education Funding 

November 12, 2014 - 7:45-9:00 a.m. 

Worcester County Registry of Deeds, 100 Front Street, Worcester 

Panelists: 

Brian Allen, Worcester Public Schools 
Benjamin Forman, MassINC & Gateway Cities Innovation Institute 
Luc Schuster, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center 
Thomas Zidelis, City of Worcester 

Timothy McGourthy, The Research Bureau, Moderator 

Part II: Balancing the Needs of the Schools and the Needs of the City 

December 3, 2014 - 7:45-9:00 a.m. 

MCPHS University, 25 Foster Street, Worcester 

Panelists:

Edward Augustus, City of Worcester 
Melinda Boone, Worcester Public Schools 
June Eressy, Worcester Public Schools (ret.) 
Mayor Joseph Petty, Worcester City Council & Worcester School Committee 

Jennifer Davis Carey, Worcester Education Collaborative, Moderator

Councilors on the budget

Economou
thanks for hearing what the education committee have heard and for F&O
"worked together, have a better understanding of the school budget"
"we're all moving in the same direction"
"working together"
Rushton
"there was a time a few years ago where we were talking $24M in cuts"
"a stable budget"
"shows where we're going in our future, with the one city approach"
glad to see $1.1M towards the schools
"any year you take off is a year in the life of our children"
references Prop 2 1/2...enrichments were all stripped away
"we're not in the boat"
"devil is always in the details"
"always enjoy talking with Mr. Zidelis about these issues, because he doesn't sugarcoat it, but he tries to get it done"
Toomey
"what a difference the budget sessions"
greater insight to school and council
"thrilled and most grateful for what has been preserved"
"still nothing to celebrate"
future business in city
motion to refer budget to budget committee, to begin next week

Worcester, I'd say we've got our work cut out for us

Zidelis: Council and Manager has charged us with decreasing amount under Net School Spending for FY15 #WPS @worcesterpublic
— Tracy Novick (@cascadingwaters) March 10, 2014

I am quite sure that Mr. Zidelis was exact in his words about how the city budget is being developed.
Decreasing the amount under net school spending will not even bring us to zero. It doesn't fund enough to even open the doors, let alone fund additional teachers needed for elementary class size and secondary requirements, for new math books, for required busing, for IA's in kindergarten...
Send out those emails and get on the phone...Council contacts are to the right.

Joint Committee: introductory comments and Net School Spending

Foley: joint committees getting together on a regular basis
"great opportunity for the two committees to come together for information sharing and information gathering...to make sure that we're on the same page"
update on Net School Spending update: where we are as a community relative to education spending
look at FY15 school budget
facilities projects updates: where we are and what we're looking at for next year
facilities master plan and transportation study
Economou: working together towards common goals
"trying to eliminate the 'us verus them'"
"to have a more cohesive discussion about school and school issues"

request for a report on North High funding

Biancheria: discussion "with the former representative"
"didn't seem as though we were able to get any type of response...hope to have some clarification on the use of the funds, if they are available, and if there is a time frame as to when they are available"
Boone: it's a reconciliation
Allen: question is for FFE money relative to school building? expenditures have to be reconciled to see if there is remaining money
Biancheria: time frame for report?
Allen: city report, can't commit to time frame on their behalf, Mr. Zidelis is aware of it and has staff devoted to it
Biancheria: city has a problem with the state? state with schools? sense of urgency
Boone: reimbursement for construction goes to city
Mayor says that he will talk to the City Manager personally

Joint subcommittee : Net School Spending

And check out this fun facilities backup that we have on this agenda
The agenda is here
Allen: update on Net School Spending 
met Net School Spending earlier this school year
Board of Ed has clarified (as of June) that municipal side employees: can count salaries, but not benefits towards school spending
places Net School Spending under $1.9 million for FY13; due to carryover now $2.3 million under Net School Spending
"clarification of the agreement"
have a change the way that we calculate municipal expenses, which will require change in our agreement; "a new agreement will be needed prior to the submittal of next year's financial report"
Zidelis: find it illogical, but the change has been voted by the Board of Education
on one side they count towards education, on the other they do not
"will be governed by that rule prospectively"
"have been discussing the need to amend the agreement" which dates back to 2007
O'Brien: good work on moving forward
Zidelis: focusing not just on Net School Spending, but the total cost; "the global picture of the cost of education is our new mantra"
Foley asks for the charter school reallocation
Allen: charter school formula is a per pupil formula; recalculation of per pupil allocation quarterly
tuition assessment went down about $2 M; lost about $800,000 in charter school reimbursement
that just under $1.3 million was moved last night in Council
targeted areas already sent aside
"going forward those students will be counted in our foundation budget as of FY15"

Hmmm...

We got word yesterday that Mr. Zidelis, the City CFO, isn't available for the joint subcommittee meeting tomorrow in which we'll be discussing the capital budget.
---interpolation here--I don't know how the city schedules their subcommittee meetings. I know we always have to make sure the relevant administrators can be there before anything makes a calendar. I don't know if this is how it works cityside.
Since the meeting was scheduled with the express purpose of discussing the capital budget prior to the City Council vote on Tuesday, it does make it rather difficult to see how that's going to happen.
I know I have questions!
And another post to come on the capital budget (because I haven't gotten to the FUN stuff yet!).

Worcester Schools budget before the Council

CFO Zidelis points out the change in how this is presented to the Council
(it now is divided between net school spending and non-net school spending).
"Reduction in the estimated FY13 Net School Spending deficiency" to $427,000
Boone comments that this is her fourth budget before the Council
"very busy and productive year as it relates to the Worcester Public Schools budget"
speaks of joint committee with Education
"addressed a number of longstanding questions about the budget and how the budget works"
"a difference place...we're really talking about where we're going forward"
"working to close that gap"
Economic development as a reason for education
increasing enrollment driving increased state funding; space issues
city's efforts to support the capital work
100th birthday of Rice Square School Celebrated today! Happy birthday, Rice Square!
We have "schools going into their third century of operations"
grateful for city's support
working going forward with MSBA on Nelson Place and on the accelerated repairs
sequestration and declining federal revenues in various grants
strike a balance between moving some of grant work into operational budget, and some having to be cut
"difficult decisions from that end"
"builds on our goal to maintain reasonable class sizes across the district"
looking to expand high school teachers for fall 2013 (shift to MassCore)
adding three nurses
refreshing computers, not only in classrooms, but in offices
Blue Ribbon Panel on technology
two Level 4 schools potentially coming out of Level 4 in fall
transportation: growing district, growing number of students with disabilities
state underfunding particular areas
"Let me very clear: the numbers that we submitted to the City Manager and the City CFO were the numbers from the formula" They aren't a request; they are a state requirement.
reintroduction of athletics at middle school
"address all of the various needs...in our educational system"

Informational on net school spending: here's the discussion

Here's the discussion on the recommended allocation of the $500,000 transfer
O'Brien: leadership working with the manager and the school department, to address the capital needs of our schools
Thanks the Manager "to leverage out a few more dollars"
Councilors, textbooks and instructional materials,
"making progress towards that gap...a little behind but we're catching up"
"continue to work towards...an operational plan that we all can get behind"
Economou: echo same sentiments, Say thank you
"step in the right direction"
Eddy: "indeed a step in the right direction"
Manager "has worked tirelessly with the superintendent"
parking lot lease in Webster Square (murmurs from Lukes)
Long been aware of the issue on Holland Road, Monticello, Wentworth, "held hostage in their homes"
"at some point...thank Tom Zidelis...far too many man hours working with Brian Allen in the school department for a solution on this...expensive bandaid...speaks to...public schools have to take... responsibilities of the public schools fall beyond the walls of the schools...being a good neighbor...cannot build schools that do not have parking"
(I should perhaps point out that the City, not the schools, build schools)
Urges Mayor to bring back to schools...going on far too long
look at field behind school (which is a park)
held it waiting for a permanent solution
motion to no parking on Holland Road during school days: need to have a public hearing, says mayor
O'Brien thinks there has been a hearing
Eddy pulls motion, sends to committee
Toomey: look back at orders not completed on this, all addressed at same time
Russell: question to administration
annual salary or half the year?
The answer is half the year, but no one knows. 

sorry, no idea what Palmieri said
CM O'Brien: amazing learning environment
buffered against our fiscal condition
that's why the move was conservative to put those dollars into contingency
Mayor has a style that I respect greatly
how we can structure these dollars
wasn't a week that went by when it wasn't an agenda item

Lukes: going back to parking lot lease
and then to initial reference to the item
"if parking lots qualify for net school spending, I'd be shocked"
how many schools are going to want the same?
footprint larger for same number of students, losing parking as a result
"this issue is one that's going to plague us with any new school"
people in that neighborhood want the school built in the same location
"for that half hour at each end of the day, it's like the end of the world"
"I would suggest that we find other solutions to this problem"

O'Brien: sure that this does not set a precedent, as there are others

Economou: in light of tonight's discussion: February 25 at 5 pm, Holland Road before Traffic and Parking

Petty: no real short term solution to parking problem
thanks Allen and Zidelis for working to fix the problem

Joint Council/School Committee meeting: Finance & Operations and Education: finance

We've got a phone call going into DESE: Jeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner of Education; Jay Sullivan, Executive Director, School Finance and District Support Center; Roger Hatch, School Finance Programs Administrator are "here" by phone.
posting as we go...

Councilors on the auditor's report

Mayor Petty
thanks auditor
"we have a strong partnership between school and city side...fighting for same dollar...nice meeting with the Superintendent and the Manager last week...now everyone knows what we're talking about"

Worcester Public Schools budget before Council

They're taking the law department first, so not quite yet...will update as we get there...also, note Council just making a quorum of six here this afternoon...now up to seven...eight..nine
Zidelis notes that the increase of 4.2% or $11.4 million from FY12

Boone notes to create greater transparency over the past several years
final document of budget is at press, received by Council June 4
"puts us at Net School Spending and the foundation requirement"
increased enrollment
up to ten councilors...and the City Manager...
Boone notes that the local piece of the increase is $2.8 million (out of a total of $12 million)
runs through how NSS spending works; transportation, rental, and crossing guards don't count
enrollment increasing "pushing at" our operational capacity and our building capacity
rundown of list of grant funding lost, cut, or requiring that we move positions off of them; now in general fund
rundown of savings in utilities, health insurance, special education (at $1 m each)
also saving on unemployment by not laying people off (true!): Total of $5.6 m
91 classrooms between 26-29 students for next year (15 in kindergarten) list follows:

Auditor's reports

Lukes: asks about the 1% 3% grant issue; "these answers frankly sound like jargo"Zidelis: cites OMG as their source for authority in taking 3%, WPS in grant application cites 1%; "until this is resolved, the school department is going to cite 1% in their grant applications"
explains that until this is resolved, this will continue to turn up as a finding
Lukes says that the city is providing more oversight "which would justify these fees"
(gotta tell you...I read them...there's no change in oversight of WPS)

 

Smith: "our city" and more leading questions

Schools are "a major part of our city"
Hasn't been updated since 1991? No. There was "some pushback" in 1991; it "took a phone call up to the federal level" to let the schools know that the city could demand it.
Did the 1% cover costs?
They were asking for 2.1% then, so, no, 1% was not enough to cover costs then.
Has it kept pace with inflation?
"would venture to say that it hasn't kept" up with inflation

"There's a good chance that the city has been heavily subsiding" the schools, Smith says. Zidelis says that they would be at 3% now if it has been reassessed.

Zidelis points out that Ch.70 keeps up with the real costs each year, as it is looked at on an annual basis. Grants are not.

Smith wants to know what we're saving in the city with that school money: 20 jobs, says Zidelis. Even with those moneies coming in, we still will lose jobs.
"It would have a direct impact on the quality of life in the city," says Smith.
as opposed to the impact it will have on the schools?!?!

Eddy asks a leading question

Up until now, has this been an agreement between city and school sides?
"There were recommendations to increase it" under Hoover, Zidelis says."The City's plan justified it, even back then." Plan hasn't been reviewed since, as far as he knows.
Eddy asks how much.
Over a million, Zidelis says, not including the stimulus money.
Including stimulus? Another $600,000.

Eddy talks about police officers and firefighters, not sweeping streets..."felt deeply" is his refrain. "look at future years as things change on both sides"

O'Connell wants it reviewed

Mr. O'Connell has asked that prior records be reviewed.
He points out that the percentage means that the amount of money goes up every time the money goes up, and now it applies to the federal stimulus (whereas it would not apply to the Ch. 70 money it replaces). He wants "a proper level of reimbursement."

Zidelis quotes "a consistent level of redirect" (not only of schools, but of all grants coming to the city); that's what the federal law was intended to ensure happens: consistency.

He goes on to say that the percentage "covers the costs of your grants."

Toomey wants to have a legal opinion on the grant percentage from local, state, and federal authorities.

Foley explains further

they're going to check and see if it's subject to an annual vote of the School Committee.

At the time of the original agreement in 1991, Zidelis says it was not subject to the vote of the School Committee. He's very confident that it will be found compliant by the federal government.