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Posted By Admin on September 8, 2011

By JASON SIEDZIK
Register Citizen Staff

WINSTED One of a proposed series of steps in the ongoing battle over school funding saw several members of the Board of Education on hand for the Board of Selectmens Tuesday night meeting. But in the end, nothing came to pass.

Selectman Ken Fracasso attempted to introduce a motion at the Board of Selectmens August 22 special meeting.

The motion would have redirected grant funds to the towns general fund, but town attorney Kevin Nelligan said the motion would have to wait, as it did not deal with any topic on the special meetings agenda.

Once the Board of Selectmen met Tuesday night, though, Fracasso was a no-show. In his absence, the board tabled the topic to their next meeting. However, in the opinion of Board of Education member Susan Hoffnagle, the motion would explicitly run counter to Connecticut Department of Education commissioner George Colemans orders.

If they passed the motion, Hoffnagle said, as I understand it, they would be shorting the Board of Education another $750,000.

Fracassos motion would have directed the Town Finance Manager to place all discretionary and unrestricted grants and revenues received from or through the State of Connecticut Department of Education in the unencumbered fund balance of the Town for such future use as the Board of Selectmen may authorize per the charter.

For the purposes of the motion, these grants and revenues include excess cost funds, transportation grants and related revenues, health and welfare grants and revenues and school construction grants and revenues. Hoffnagle said these funds go to the towns ledger, but must be forwarded to the school district within 30 days.

Colemans letter specifically mentioned the excess cost funds and said they could not include those funds in the amount of the appropriation for the point of the MBR, Hoffnagle said.

According to Hoffnagle, any attempt to reroute the funds would fly in the face of Colemans September 1 letter ordering Winchester to provide an extra $1.36 million to the school system and bring the district in compliance with the minimum budget requirement. Hoffnagle said the town must provide the funds in a manner consistent with how Winchesters schools were funded in recent years.

Pointing towards the 2008-09 school year, Hoffnagle said excess cost grants which are intended to offset exceptionally high special education costs and other funds were not counted towards the minimum budget requirement. Continued…

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Categories: Funding
Tags: Funding