Over 120 MA School Committees Call For State Coronavirus Funding

Over 120 School Committees in Massachusetts have passed a resolution that charges the state with paying for additional coronavirus-related expenses that districts may incur during the fall reopening process. To date, 128 School Committees have passed a resolution at their individual open meetings calling for the state to "guarantee every school district full reimbursement for whatever COVID-19 expenses are required to follow state mandates."

The MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced on June 5 that it was the districts' responsibilities to get supplies needed to safely reopen. In DESE's "Initial Fall Reopening Guidance" districts were instructed to bring back as many students as possible and offered a number of grant opportunities to help pay for reopening.

"The grants and funds cited by DESE are a good start, but they fall well short of the guarantee needed to ensure a safe re-opening," said Nerissa Wallen, Chair of the Triton Regional School Committee. "We need to make purchases and decisions now, and we can’t in good conscience cut corners on safety for students or staff. We need to know the state has our backs to pay for what’s necessary: our budgets cannot sustain any more unfunded mandates."

AASA and ASBO have estimated that additional costs for reopening could be $1.8M for the “average” sized district. Average is defined as 3,659 students, eight school buildings, 183 classrooms, 329 staff members, and 40 school buses at 25 percent capacity.

Districts have also been warned that significant cuts to FY21 education aid are possible in a state budget that is still months away from being final.

Districts constrained by space like Worcester are especially concerned about how to fund a safe reopening. "Whether it’s three or six feet distancing – our already overcrowded buildings simply don’t have the space to fit all students safely," said Tracy Novick, member of the Worcester School Committee. "The patchwork of qualified grants and funds listed by DESE is not enough: we simply cannot deliver on their mandate without a full reimbursement guarantee to provide safe facilities (and transportation) for all students and staff."

The School Committees that passed the resolution are listed below along with the passage date:

1. Gardner School Committee 6/8/20
2. North Brookfield School Committee 6/8/20
3. Wellesley School Committee 6/8/20
4. Grafton School Committee 6/9/20
5. Southeastern Regional Voc Tech School Committee 6/9/20
6. Mansfield School Committee 6/9/20
7. Milton School Committee 6/10/20
8. Westborough School Committee 6/10/20
9. Wilmington School Committee 6/10/20
10. Hatfield School Committee 6/10/20
11. Ashland School Committee 6/10/20
12. Sharon School Committee 6/10/20
13. Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee 6/10/20
14. Quincy School Committee 6/10/20
15. Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee 6/10/20
16. Masconomet Regional School Committee 6/10/20
17. Amherst School Committee 6/11/20
18. Pelham School Committee 6/11/20
19. Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee 6/11/20
20. Arlington School Committee 6/11/20
21. Monomoy Regional School Committee 6/11/20
22. Andover School Committee 6/11/20
23. Walpole School Committee 6/11/20
24. Reading School Committee 6/11/20
25. Holyoke School Committee 6/15/20
26. Natick School Committee 6/15/20
27. Hingham School Committee 6/15/20
28. Scituate School Committee 6/15/20
29. South Hadley School Committee 6/15/20
30. Hull School Committee 6/15/20
31. Seekonk School Committee 6/15/20
32. Newburyport School Committee 6/15/20
33. Westford School Committee 6/15/20
34. Winchester School Committee 6/16/20
35. Needham School Committee 6/16/20
36. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee 6/16/20
37. Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee 6/16/20
38. Saugus School Committee 6/16/20
39. East Bridgewater School Committee 6/16/20
40. Peabody School Committee 6/16/20
41. Lexington School Committee 6/16/20
42. Revere School Committee 6/16/20
43. Concord-Carlisle School Committee 6/16/20
44. Chelmsford School Committee 6/16/20
45. Pentucket Regional School Committee 6/16/20
46. Wayland School Committee 6/17/20
47. Triton Regional School Committee 6/17/20
48. Monson School Committee 6/17/20
49. Williamsburg School Committee 6/17/20
50. Lowell School Committee 6/17/20
51. Cohasset School Committee 6/17/20
52. Old Colony Regional Voc Tech School Committee 6/17/20
53. Nashoba Regional School Committee 6/17/20
54. Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee 6/17/20
55. Norwood School Committee 6/17/20
56. Framingham School Committee 6/17/20
57. Montachusett Regional Voc Tech School Committee 6/17/20
58. Frontier Regional School Committee 6/17/20
59. Ludlow School Committee 6/17/20
60. Springfield School Committee 6/18/20
61. Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee 6/18/20
62. Randolph School Committee 6/18/20
63. Ipswich School Committee 6/18/20
64. Maynard School Committee 6/18/20
65. Worcester School Committee 6/18/20
66. Topsfield School Committee 6/18/20
67. Brookline School Committee 6/18/20
68. Milford School Committee 6/18/20
69. Sunderland School Committee 6/18/20
70. Deerfield School Committee 6/18/20
71. Conway School Committee 6/18/20
72. Whately School Committee 6/18/20
73. Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee 6/18/20
74. Middleton School Committee 6/18/20
75. Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee 6/18/20
76. Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee 6/18/20
77. Carlisle School Committee 6/19/20
78. Blue Hills Regional School Committee 6/19/20
79. Harvard School Committee 6/20/20
80. Abington School Committee 6/22/20
81. Holbrook School Committee 6/22/20
82. Holliston School Committee 6/22/20
83. Mendon-Upton Regional School Committee 6/22/20
84. Amesbury School Committee 6/22/20
85. Newton School Committee 6/22/20
86. Dracut School Committee 6/22/20
87. Malden School Committee 6/22/20
88. North Middlesex Regional School Committee 6/22/20
89. Norwell School Committee 6/22/20
90. Oxford School Committee 6/22/20
91. Brewster School Committee 6/22/20
92. Auburn School Committee 6/23/20
93. Belchertown School Committee 6/23/20
94. Plainville School Committee 6/23/20
95. West Springfield School Committee 6/23/20
96. Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee 6/23/20
97. Franklin School Committee 6/23/20
98. Northbridge School Committee 6/23/20
99. Agawam School Committee 6/23/20
100. Ayer-Shirley Regional School Committee 6/24/20
101. Narragansett Regional School Committee 6/24/20
102. Hopkinton School Committee 6/24/20
103. Millbury School Committee 6/24/20
104. Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee 6/24/20
105. Dudley-Charlton Regional School Committee 6/24/20
106. Southampton School Committee 6/24/20
107. Woburn School Committee 6/24/20
108. Pittsfield School Committee 6/24/20
109. Worthington School Committee 6/25/20
110. Hadley School Committee 6/25/20
111. North Andover School Committee 6/25/20
112. Central Berkshire Regional School Committee 6/25/20
113. Melrose School Committee 6/25/20
114. Boxford School Committee 6/25/20
115. Haverhill School Committee 6/25/20
116. Norfolk School Committee 6/26/20
117. Medfield School Committee 6/29/20
118. Granby School Committee 6/29/20
119. Northampton School Committee 6/29/20
120. Belmont School Committee 6/29/20
121. Braintree School Committee 6/29/20
122. Lenox School Committee 6/29/20
123. Uxbridge School Committee 6/29/20
124. Georgetown School Committee 6/30/20
125. Leverett School Committee 7/1/20
126. Winchendon School Committee 7/2/20
127. North Attleborough School Committee 7/3/20

128. Dartmouth School Committee 7/6/20