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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 milestone for AIS falls on April 5, 2025, and that, if the board chooses, the district could convert AIS back into a Danbury Public Schools-operated elementary school rather than a regional magnet.
Why it matters: AIS’s magnet status includes a 70/30 enrollment requirement—no more than 70% Danbury students and at least 30% from participating towns—to preserve regional integration. Dr. Smith Merrill said the district is “right on the line every year” and that continued declines in out-of-district enrollment could force a long-term decision about the program’s structure and finances. She emphasized the district is not closing AIS and said any shift would be phased to avoid harming current students.
Board members pressed for specifics. The superintendent described a process: meet with state officials, map contractual and inter-district agreements that would need amendment, and, if warranted, develop a phase-out plan that honors current students and spreads revenue losses over time. She said a meeting was scheduled shortly to review logistics.
During discussion board members and staff noted that multiple magnet schools statewide are facing similar corrective-action enrollment reviews; she said about 30 magnet schools across Connecticut are on corrective-action plans because of enrollment declines.
Dr. Smith Merrill and board members listed participating towns as Brookfield, New Milford, Newtown, Bethel, New Fairfield and others in the region; she said the district sometimes sees late withdrawals in August that affect kindergarten counts and the balance that maintains the 30% out-of-district requirement.
Board members asked for follow-up data on AIS academic outcomes and a financial forecast showing the impact of several options: maintain magnet status, convert to a district-only school, or phase out magnet participation. Dr. Smith Merrill said she will return with more detailed enrollment charts, financial scenarios and a timeline for decisions.
The superintendent and multiple board members urged caution: any conversion would require legal and administrative steps with participating towns and the state and should be designed to protect students already enrolled.
Ending: Dr. Smith Merrill said the district is at a crossroads but that the process will be deliberate; she scheduled a follow-up meeting with state officials and promised to bring charts and scenarios back to the board within weeks for a deliberative decision.
