Arlington Schools Don't Stand To Gain From Baker Budget

ARLINGTON, MA — Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes full funding of the Student Opportunity Act, but due to Arlington's drop in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the district will not reap any significant benefits.

The $45.6 billion FY22 budget includes $246.3 million in new funding for the act, which overhauls the formula that determines how much state aid school districts get. The law had already been put on hold once due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also includes an increase of Chapter 70 aid funding by $197.7 million, or 3.7 percent, significantly less than the $303 million in Baker's FY21 budget that never materialized as the pandemic put a strain on state revenues.

This year's proposed number is lower due to lower inflation and a statewide enrollment drop of 3.26 percent, or 37,000 students. A provision in the formula assures districts will not receive less than they did in FY21 plus $30 per pupil, but there is some concern over whether the formula should be based on this school year's enrollment figures at all.

Arlington lost 292 students this year, according to data shared with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The bulk of those students were elementary schoolers, which aligns with the statewide trend of younger children being kept home.

"In Arlington's case our decline in enrollment for school year 2020-21 completely eliminates any increase in funding due to the SOA benefit," School Committee Chair Jane Morgan told Patch.

The Student Opportunity Act, passed into law in 2019, maps out a path to infusing $1.5 billion into districts over seven years, revamping the formula that determined Chapter 70 funds. It was hailed by lawmakers and education advocates as a needed investment into bridging the inequity gap in school funding.

Funding was scrapped for what would have been its first year due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, schools were level-funded under the old formula as federal funding backed costs associated with the coronavirus, like personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and remote learning infrastructure.

But now the formula is working off of numbers that will likely be temporary, leading to less funding than a district may have otherwise received.

Many of the unenrolled students are expected to return to school once in-person learning resumes. If they do come back, they will be included in the Oct. 1 count, which the state will use to restore funding next year.