Falmouth May Get Additional $2.2 Million In Chapter 70 Funds
The Town of Falmouth is looking at a potential $2.2 million increase in Chapter 70 funding from the state with the implementation of the Student Opportunity Act, a calculation made based on the town’s 25 percent increase in students who are considered economically disadvantaged.
Speaking in front of the School Committee at its meeting on Tuesday, February 8, Director of Finance and Operations R. Patrick Murphy said that when Governor Charles D. Baker Jr.’s budget was released at the end of January, he and the town’s Finance Director Jennifer Mullen thought there had been a miscalculation in Falmouth’s funding allocations.
“We immediately got on the phone to our DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) contact and asked if they’d made a mistake,” he said. “When we drilled down into the details of how Falmouth was impacted by this Student Opportunity Act, what we found was very distinctly that the calculation that the state made based upon the October 2021 Student Demographic Report showed that the number of economically disadvantaged children in the district increased by 263 children, which is a percentage increase of about 25 percent.”
This would be a huge increase for most towns, he said, and Falmouth is no exception. The state categorizes towns using a 12-step scale, he said, and this change was so significant that it bumped Falmouth from step six—that represents the average level for economically disadvantaged students—to step eight.
The reason for this increase is not a change in student demographics but rather a change in the way the calculations are made by the state. Mr. Murphy said that for the past five years, the state has considered anyone within 133 percent of the federal poverty level as economically disadvantaged. This year, however, a change was implemented that upped that percentage, so anyone within 185 percent of the federal poverty level is now qualified as economically disadvantaged.
To put these changes into context, Mr. Murphy said that 133 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four is about $35,000 per year. At 185 percent, annual income for a family of four would be just over $49,000.
“The other part of this is that the state has gotten very good at doing direct certification of who qualifies for these designations,” he said. “It’s anybody who’s receiving transitional assistance, SNAP, foster children, homeless children, and… any children under Mass Health.”
While demographics will fluctuate, Mr. Murphy told the committee that the new standard for determining economically disadvantaged status will not be changing and it is unlikely that they will see that number change drastically.
“This could become our new baseline,” he said. “This is more likely to become our new baseline of Chapter 70 dollars coming to the town on an ongoing basis.”
The governor’s budget, which incorporates a fully funded Student Opportunity Act for FY23, still has to go through both the House and Senate before coming back to the governor for final approval, which Mr. Murphy said will take some time but usually happens by the end of July on “a normal year.”
The school district’s current budget for FY23 is $52,900,000 and will be voted on at the school committee’s next meeting on February 15. Mr. Murphy communicated that it was Ms. Mullen’s suggestion to continue with the current budget cycle and figures, present that to the town Finance Committee, and then wait for the governor’s budget to be signed into law. Then, he said, a recommendation will be made at November Town Meeting to do a special allocation to the school district, as the funds need to be locally allocated.
The extra time will be important, Mr. Murphy said, because while the Student Opportunity Act allocation may not change, other equations that are used to determine educational funding or expenses might, and the town needs to take that into account because it may or may not impact the overall amount of funding coming to Falmouth.
“We should just continue to pay attention to this process, get updated on this process, and make plans and give ourselves a chance to make plans on how best to use these funds,” he said. “Because, guess what? This is considered the Student Opportunity Act; this isn’t necessarily the Town of Falmouth Opportunity Act. This is the Student Opportunity Act and the money is distinctly being sent to the town for the schools because of the growing percentage of our students who are economically disadvantaged.”
Mr. Murphy said that updates will be provided as the budget makes its way through the House and Senate and assured the school committee that more discussions will be had to consider tactical implementation strategies and plans for the use of additional funds.