Update: School District Likely to Lose State Transportation Funds

When school board members agreed last week to put $282,257 in state revenues back into next year's school budget proposal, they did so with some hesitation.

The money wasn't guaranteed.

And on Friday, despite efforts by school officials to convince lawmakers to restore transportation funding to regional school districts, the state legislature's appropriations committee agreed to a budget plan that does not include the money.

The move came after school officials expressed some optimism that the funding would be restored after the legislature's education committee voted in favor of providing regional school districts with previous transportation funding, which had been slashed under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget proposal.

School officials were offered more hope when Ben Barnes, the governor's budget chief, reportedly acknowledged that the funding cuts were an oversight that unfairly impacted regional school districts.

Yet, the board is now forced to fill the void left by the reduction in revenue before the $36.61 million spending plan is sent to referendum on May 7.

"I think the [board] and the administration understand that if the legislature does not act to restore the transportation grant funding we will have to meet the challenge of making the budget we passed work without compromising the educational integrity of the district," board member Robert Fulton, who chairs the board's finance committee, said in an email to Patch Friday.

"I'm disappointed that the legislature continues to treat regional school districts less fairly than other districts, particularly when there is a complete lack of any underlying policy rational or justification for doing so," he added.

Next year's school budget proposal is currently a 1.42 percent overall net increase over current spending, although that number is likely to change with Friday's news.

On Saturday, board chairman Kerrie Flanagan said school and town officials will be discussing their options on Monday.

"Certainly loss of the Transportation Grant for Regional School Districts is neither rational nor justified.  It makes no sense at all," she said in an email.

Correction to Editor's Note: Patch reported on Saturday that Middlefield state Rep. Emil "Buddy" Altobello and Durham state Rep. Vincent Candelora are members of the appropriations committee and that Altobello voted in favor of the bill while Candelora voted against it. Altobello and Candelora are actually members of the finance committee and did not vote on a budget that included the transportation provision. Durham State Rep. Noreen Kokoruda is a member of the appropriations committee, however, and voted against the budget and expressed concerns about the elimination of the transportation grant. We apologize for the errors.