Waltham Schools Don't Gain Much From Baker's Budget

WALTHAM, MA — Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes full funding of the Student Opportunity Act, but because of to Waltham's drop in enrollment during the 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 because of the pandemic.

"I am glad to see that the Governor is supporting funding for the Student Opportunity Act," said Superintendent Brian Reagan.

Last week, the School Committee supported the district recommendation to move forward with two Student Opportunity Act initiatives, including establishing alternative academic programming for students at-risk of dropping out, and an effort to recruit —and retain— more a more diverse educator workforce.

"Until this week, we were not confident that there would be any additional funding to support these efforts, so the recent news about the SOA is promising," Reagan said. "I remain hopeful that the SOA will still be funded in full over the next several years as it was intended to be when it was originally announced last year and that we do not permanently lose the funds we were expecting in FY21."

The state budget 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.

Waltham lost 231 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.

According to state numbers Waltham will get $165,720 more than it got last year.

"With respect to Chapter 70 school funding, I am concerned that current enrollment numbers were used to establish funding levels for FY22," said Superintendent Brian Reagan. "Like most districts, Waltham experienced a decline in enrollment this year largely due to the pandemic. I expect that many of these students will return to the district in the fall. I would have liked to see the Governor use enrollment figures from the fall of 2019 as I believe those more accurately reflect what we will see in the fall of 2021."

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.

"I do expect a significant amount of federal dollars to come to the district through the second wave of COVID relief,"Reagan said. "Waltham's allotment should exceed $2M. These funds are welcomed, but the use is limited to supporting efforts to safely reopen schools and to address learning loss determined to be a direct result of COVID."