State Representative Mitch Bolinsky spoke with the Board of Education at its meeting on Tuesday, October 20, about the state’s Substitute House Bill 7019, An Act Concerning The Minimum Budget Requirement.

Rep Bolinsky also spoke with the Legislative Council during its meeting on October 7, and explained updates to the existing legislation. At that meeting he noted the Minimum Budget Requirement bill was introduced by House Speaker Brendan Sharkey and was co-sponsored by roughly 57 other representatives, including himself. He added the bill was signed into law by Governor Dannel P. Malloy as Public Act 15-99, after it passed the house and senate.

The former version of the legislation limited districts to reducing the previous year’s budget by no more than one-half of one percent, and if there was declining enrollment, a district could not reduce per student expenditure by more than $3,000 from the previous year’s budget. The new legislation increases the declining enrollment reduction cap to 50 percent of the school district’s expenditure per student, which would be just over $7,000 per student in Newtown as of this year, according to the Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr.

As Rep Bolinsky explained at the Legislative Council meeting, districts that are in the top ten percent of performing districts will be exempt from the updated Minimum Budget Requirement law.

Dr Erardi specified this week, responding to statements made at the Legislative Council meeting, that there are a number of issues still “pending” in the Minimum Budget Requirement document, including deciding how top performing school districts will be determined.

“There is no one that has been deemed in that high performing district cohort of [Minimum Budget Requirement] legislation,” said Dr Erardi, responding to statements that put Newtown in the top ten percent of performing school districts. “Because there has been no determination.”

Dr Erardi also said he has a hard time seeing how the legislation would apply to Newtown at this time.

“Knowing that we are coming offline with a funding stream that has been significant — $7 million or over for years — … and knowing that support staff and services are going to be needed for next year,” the superintendent said, “it will be a very difficult consideration to look at this legislation and see any type of application for Newtown public schools.”

Rep Bolinsky told the school board the legislation is still a “work in progress,” and he asked the school board to work with him and other local officials to reach a consensus so he can then share the local concerns at the state level, with the hope that those concerns would be used to amend the legislation.

“Right now it’s conceptual,” Rep Bolinsky said, adding later that he expects amendments to be made by the legislature.

While Rep Bolinsky said he did not see the changes to the Minimum Budget Requirement legislation to be “damaging,” he understood concerns voiced locally and by the school board members.

The spirit of the update, Rep Bolinsky said was not to degrade the educational experience in districts.

Board of Education Chair Keith Alexander said he believes the main concerns stem from there being a “floor” in the previous Minimum Budget Requirement Legislation, “that the board could expect… That does not appear to have changed, with the exception of we are not entirely sure what that floor is.”

Mr Alexander continued later, “The floor appears to be lower for us and that is our concern.”

Board of Education Secretary Kathy Hamilton said she sees how the legislation can help some districts.

“I guess I’m not as concerned in our community because we value education,” said Ms Hamilton.

While school board Vice Chair Laura Roche agreed with Ms Hamilton that Newtown values education, she said she found the legislation “very concerning.”

“I think it is a very serious situation that we could be put into if the wrong people are making the decisions,” said Ms Roche.

Rep Bolinsky agreed with Ms Roche’s concerns and said, “This is a conversation that we need to continue, and we need to bring our concerns in the form of statutory language and protections [forward], so that we don’t have to live in fear of this.”

Also at the board’s meeting, Dr Erardi announced the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education awarded the school district its Award of Excellence for Educational Communications for its 2015-16 budget document.