Wallingford Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said he wouldn’t be disappointed if the state allocates an extra $61,000 to the district for the 2013-14 school year.
But, Menzo said he’s cautious about the proposal because he’s not sure if the town may see funding cuts elsewhere to offset that spending hike.
“We’re all part of the same team, so then it would balance itself out,” Menzo said, noting that any state education funding goes to the town first.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to unveil his proposed budget to the state legislature today and, in preparation of the event, the governor released Tuesday a list of proposed increases to the Education Cost Sharing grants (ECS).
The governor, who enacted a series of education reforms in 2010, said he is committed to continually addressing issues that affect Connecticut schools. Some 30 school districts are getting the lion’s share of the proposed $152 million in extra funding, while other schools are splitting the rest.
Wallingford was allotted just over $61,000 in extra funding for this upcoming fiscal year, followed by another $61,000 in the 2014-15 school year, according to the proposal. As reported by CTMirror.org, the funding is expected to be paid for by the expiration of a taxes on power plants and businesses.
See a full breakdown here.
Menzo said the extra funding involves new initiatives for teacher evaluations and changes to common core standards. But, he noted that $61,000, while a healthy dose of money, isn’t enough to cover those state mandates.
“While it’s a great to get the extra money we’re certainly not getting the level of funding that other communities are,” Menzo said. “Some communities are getting over a $1 million in additional funding.”
Some of the reforms that the governor is pushing for — which Menzo said he supports as being good for Wallingford students — are coming across as unfunded mandates.
