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MARS Board Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2004
Present: Visitor: Kathleen Reynolds.
Board Members: Maureen Marshall, Clifford G. Fountain, Gene Carlo, Marcia Lukon,
Stephen Hemmen, Lynn Ryan; Staff: Dee Dee Niswonger
Once again House One does not include money for Professional Development. Some
are budgeting for it anyway as it is seen as a necessary activity regardless of
state mandates.
Otherwise, the many mandates (so many that they seem uncountable) are seen as
preventing schools from "holding the line" in spending, particularly in SPED.
Great angst was expressed over the predicted costs of No Child Left Behind.
Some feel the act will be over turned, as it is impossible to follow it, and
there is no funding to support it. Others are seeking out the useful aspects of
it, and integrating them into their program. Items such as assessment, and
performance standards can be utilized.
GOOD NEWS: We have started at level funding on regional transportation and
Chapter 70, so we don't have to work to get there, but rather to get above those
figures. There is growing support for fuller funding for regional
transportation.
Choice and Charter student stream of funding.
It currently is not clear what the DOE expects districts to do when counting, or
not counting, choice and charter students. The sense of some board members is
that if the sending district does not count those students, when the state
removes the funding for each of them, the district does not have any "bank
account" from which the money comes and is even more impoverished by the
reductions for those students.
Although traditional districts count their students on Oct. 1, Charters count on
April 1. Dis-ease was expressed about the accuracy of those counts.
It was discussed that districts need to count out going students for their
foundation budget enrollment, but eliminate from their assessment counts
students for whom the towns do not pay: students who are not receiving their
education in the building, except for SPED students. There is some confusion
about this counting issue.
Chapter 70: Expect Changes
There is almost 80 million above level funding in Chapter 70 in House One. The
House budget will probably offer the numbers ultimately used, and it may be that
the 80 million will be distributed differently from the way it is in House One.
Once again, Chapter 70 is held harmless.
Bizarre Problems
Several districts are experiencing difficult problems with assessment issues.
Some are attributable to tight money, some to confusion over errors in last
year's numbers, particularly for MLC, some to long term practices which are
increasingly widening gaps on ability to pay issues. The MLC errors have been
corrected in this year's calculations for MLC. The DOE has put up an excellent
explanation, town by town, and within the town, districts by district, of the
current method of calculating MLC.
Regional Transportation
There are "grass root" movements afoot to affect the legislative support for
increased funding here. Please go to the News Page to see what is going on and
how you can help.
Respectfully submitted,
Dee Dee Niswonger
For More Information Contact:
Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools
P.O. Box 334, Williamsburg, MA 01096-0334
Tel: 413-268-3607
E-mail:
niswonger@comcast.net
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Massachusetts Association of
Regional Schools