Local officials voice support for education funding bill

Feb. 8—Superintendents from Ellington, East Hartford, Stafford, and Vernon, along with Enfield officials who sent a letter, joined almost 200 people last week to speak in favor of legislation that would revise how the state funds public education.

About 180 school board chairs, city officials, public school students, and members of the public appeared during a nine-hour joint public hearing in Hartford on Friday held by the Education and Appropriations Committees on House Bill 5003, which would accelerate the Education Cost Sharing, or ECS, grants for 2028 by several years, fully funding the grant adjustments by fiscal year 2025 with an estimated cost of $275 million.

The bill also would expand ECS-weighted funding to students attending public schools of choice such as magnet schools, charter schools, and agriscience programs, while protecting funding for public schools, and eliminate general education tuition for magnet school operators and agriscience programs as of 2025.

Forty legislators co-sponsored the bill, including Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, and Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford.

Many officials said their towns have long been under-funded.

Enfield Mayor Bob Cressotti, Board of Education Chairwoman Tina LeBlanc, and Town Manager Ellen Zoppo-Sassu wrote a letter in support of the bill that they said would give a fair share of state education funding to the nearly 5,000 students the town serves.

"Our students have been shortchanged by millions of dollars; our educators have been asked to bear the burden of increasing education costs due to the under-funding of our district," they wrote.

Enfield was designated as an Alliance District last year yet received no funds, officials said. Nearly 54% of Enfield's students are considered high needs and the town has growing English language learner and special education populations.

Ellington's Board of Education also wrote a letter to the General Assembly in support of the bill. Board Chairwoman Jennifer Dzen and Superintendent Scott V. Nicol appeared in person on Friday to testify.

"Ellington public schools are a proponent of school choice," he said, adding the district has expanded the Hartford choice program by 35% in the last eight years of his tenure.

Nicol said Ellington, which falls into the bottom five districts in the state annually for per-pupil cost per student, would save about $530,000 in 2025, based upon revenue increases and tuition savings, should the bill pass.

East Hartford Board of Education Chairman Tyron Harris said the bill would finally bring full equitable education funding to the town and district.

East Hartford has some of the highest percentages of students who quality for free and reduced priced lunch, who need special education services, and are English learners, he said. "However, we are the fourth lowest funding district overall, spending less than 19% than the state average," he said.

East Hartford Superintendent Nathan Quesnel said about 1,100 students in the district attend magnet schools at a cost of $6.7 million.

"It's a hard conversation to have with families when you want to provide a high-quality education but we're cutting programs to pay for programs in other schools," he said.

Vernon Superintendent Joseph Macary said the district is not currently scheduled to receive its full share of ECS funding until fiscal year 2028.

"Our more than 3,200 students cannot continue to wait for the funding they need and the resources they deserve," he said. "Fully funding the ECS formula would help us recruit and retain high-quality teachers and critical staff to address the effects of the global health pandemic on student learning and mental health, which will outlast one-time, federal COVID-19 relief dollars."

Stafford Superintendent Steven Moccio said his is one of the 88 districts in the state that are considered over-funded according to the ECS formula and, as a result, is slated to experience reductions to its grant.

The legislation would eliminate general education tuition billing for districts that have students attending out-of-district magnet schools and agriscience programs, and would result in a $171,000 net increase to Stafford's state funding.

"Elimination of the tuition costs would allow Stafford to continue expanding in-district offerings and supports for students, while removing the potentially volatile tuition costs that are an annual budgetary concern for districts." Moccio said.

For more coverage of Somers and Enfield, follow Susan Danseyar on Twitter: @susandanseyar, Facebook: Susan Danseyar, reporter.