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Danbury officials weigh reclaiming AIS after declining out-of-district enrollment and funding shortfall
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Smith Merrill told the Board of Education that declining out-of-district enrollment and changes to magnet funding put the Alice Isabella School (AIS) at a crossroads; the district can opt to convert the state-owned magnet to a Danbury-only school after a 20-year period that concludes April 5, 2025.
Dr. Smith Merrill, Danbury public schools superintendent, told the Board of Education that the district’s AIS magnet school is underenrolled and facing a funding gap that could prompt the district to take the school back from state magnet status.
"The magnet operating grant is $1,588,332-ish," Dr. Smith Merrill said, and tuition revenue from participating towns is "around $97,000 and change." She said total operating costs for AIS are about $4,383,894 and that the district currently covers roughly $2,600,000 of that cost from local funds.
The superintendent said Connecticut law and past legislative action have changed how much participating districts pay and that the district recently received guidance from state officials about options that become available 20 years after construction. She said the 20-year…
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