Derby schools may use transfers, state funds to plug budget gap
DERBY – The Board of Education is planning to use the equivalent of its savings account to cover the shortfall between what school officials say they need for 2022-23 and the $ 19.1 million the said Board of Apportionment and Taxation allocated.
School board chairman Jim Gildea said the anticipated budget shortfall, which he estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, could be partially covered by an increase in state aid to Derby. The rest, he said, would have to come from the schools’ non-lapsing account.
“It appears as if the (Education Cost Sharing) grants will come in at about $ 230,000 higher,” Gildea said.
The non-lapsing account, essentially the schools’ savings account, currently contains $ 408,000, which will also help close the gap, he said.
“That $ 408,000 non-lapsing account is Board of Education money. It’s from our surpluses through the years, ”Gildea said. “Once we get that released to us, we are hopeful that we will be able to make up that significant shortfall and what we asked for and what we’ve gotten.”
Any remaining shortages after the school board applies the state and non-lapsing funds would have to be made up through cuts, Gildea said. He declined to guess where those potential cuts might come from.
“There’s still the possibility cuts ought to be made. But until we determine and have that non lapsing account resolved, it’s still too early to tell, ”Gildea said.
Superintendent Matthew Conway, at the school board’s April meeting, said the city spends less on its schools proportionally than other municipalities. That, combined with the high numbers of students with special needs and from low-income families, is responsible at least in part for the requested spending increase.
“When you look at the higher rate of just students with disabilities, or students that qualify for free and reduced lunch in Derby … it’s an unfair comparison,” Conway said.
While the school district plans to figure out how to make do with less than school officials say it needs, BOAT chair Jeff Polis said the city and the school board would continue to look for a middle ground when it comes to school funding.
“I will also look forward to the increased dialogue between the mayor’s office and the Board of Education so they may find an appropriate middle ground to continue the progress made on our schools’ improvement in adequate funding,” Polis said.