Small School Districts Unfairly Targeted in Far Reaching Education Reform Bill- Forces Them to Regionalize

Hartford, CT – Sen. Toni Boucher (R-Wilton), ranking member of the Education Committee is concerned a little known section of the Governor’s far reaching education reform bill will hurt many small districts throughout the state, including Redding and Easton.

SB 24, Section 11 – Small District Consolidation would penalize small school districts serving 1000 students or less. These districts will have state education grants withheld if they spend more per-pupil than the state average.

Education Committee hearing Sen. Boucher, Sec. Barnes and Cmsr. Pryor.

“Small school districts like Redding and Easton have already combined administrative costs to save money. This legislation would penalize them for doing exactly what the consolidation proposal is asking,” said Sen. Boucher. “Region 9 comprising Easton and Redding has one Superintendent, one central office and one high school. The elementary schools are separate. This makes sense given the distance traveled and the desire to keep young children in smaller school environments.”

“We need to negotiate new language for this portion of the bill to take into account the steps that some schools are taking to save costs and centralize administration and their high schools. Fortunately, the Commissioner and Secretary of OPM have agreed to work with us to address our concerns,” added Sen. Boucher.

The penalty in the bill is $1000 per student multiplied by the “small district reduction percentage,” which is 10% the first year, and an additional 10% each additional year, up to 50% in the 5th year.

For example: District X has 500 students, and is in their 5th year of spending more than the state average, the state will assess the district $250,000 in total education grants (not just ECS).

Students from Joel Barlow H.S. in Redding waiting to testify at Educ. Hearing

There are currently 43 school districts that could be affected by this section, and with declining enrollments throughout the state, many districts could be added by the 2015 effective date.

At the Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, Christopher Hocker, Member, Region 9 Board of Education testified, “Section 11 of SB 24 is literally a one size fits all approach to educational reform – one that sweeps away differences among communities, ignores a wide spectrum of potentially valid local objections and practical obstacles to consolidation, and further erodes the concept of local control of education.”

Sen. Boucher said, “I am hopeful we can correct this language to incentivize and not penalize districts to regionalize – if it makes sense to the district.”