House Education reviews Agency of Education Budget Adjustment Act changes including PCB remediation funding and carryovers

House Education on Jan. 22 heard Agency of Education officials detail proposed changes to the state’s Budget Adjustment Act, including requests for additional funding for a licensing peer-review program and adult education, a proposed $11 million reduction to an education payment appropriation, and a package of fiscal-year 2024 carryovers and reversions.

The discussion centered on three BAA requests — a $75,000 increase for the licensing peer review program, a $506,000 increase for the adult education and literacy program (split roughly 60% general fund, 40% education fund), and a net $11 million reduction to the adjusted education payment appropriation — plus several carryover and reversion items across the agency’s general fund and education fund accounts.

For the record, Sean Kuzma, interim chief financial officer for the Agency of Education, said the peer-review request responds to a higher-than-expected number of participants. “We’re looking for an additional $75,000 to cover the increased number of folks going through the peer review program,” Kuzma said, adding that the agency had originally budgeted for about 88 participants and now expects roughly 150.

Kuzma described the adult education and literacy request as tied to a small increase in students served in fiscal 2024. The agency asked for $506,000 total: about $303,000 in general fund support and about $202,000 from the education fund. Kuzma said the appropriations for that request appear in the BAA sections labeled 504 and 504.51.

Officials told the committee they were proposing a net $11 million reduction to the education payment appropriation because one $3 million line for an EL categorical added last year was placed separately in the final budget but the original line was not reduced, producing a double-count. The agency recommended lowering the education spending grant line by $8 million to align the appropriation with current estimates for fiscal 2025.

On universal school meals, Kuzma said the agency is revising its current-year estimate downward. “The current estimate is 17 and a half million,” he said, noting that earlier public figures near $30 million are outdated; the agency estimated about $18.5 million for the next year.

Committee members pressed agency staff on FY24 carryovers and reversions. Agency officials said the education services appropriation shows roughly $993,000 in the general fund, about $400,000 of which is already obligated for grants and contracts; the agency requested permission to carry those obligations forward. Kuzma said the agency submitted a carryover package and that finance and management approved some requests and denied others, producing approximately $100,000 in reversion from one item.

Members discussed a series of education fund adjustments including a roughly $301,000 reversion in one special-education line, a $593,000 reversion from a small-schools grant that ended and was replaced by another program, and other adjustments the agency characterized as aligning appropriations to recent spending patterns. Flexible Pathways showed both carryover obligations and roughly $1.3 million the agency said was an overestimate in prior budgeting for certain programs.

Committee members asked about vacancy savings in the agency budget. Kuzma said the agency budgets with an expected vacancy savings factor and that last year’s unfilled positions produced larger savings; he estimated the routine vacancy-savings factor embedded in the budget equates to roughly $500,000 compared with fully staffing every position. Committee members were told the carryover money being discussed is not primarily intended to fill vacancies but to meet previously obligated subgrants and contracts.

Agency officials also described the status of PCB remediation funding for school buildings. An agency official referred to an earlier $32 million education-fund appropriation that has been obligated for the PCB program. The agency said it is continuing the program in fiscal 2025 with a one-time request of about $16.3 million and that roughly $4.5 million more has been transferred from the Department of Environmental Conservation under an interagency memorandum of understanding to address recently identified remediation costs, including work at Burlington High School. “I would consider that money obligated, through grant awards,” an agency official said, explaining that most funds have been promised and schools will request reimbursement once they pay invoices.

Committee chair and members asked for additional detail on which Flexible Pathways subprograms account for the carryover balances and for examples of the contracts and subgrants the agency lists as obligated. Staff said they would provide a more detailed breakdown after the hearing.

As a procedural next step, the committee chair said a letter summarizing the committee’s questions and comments would be sent to the Appropriations Committee; staff did not propose any committee-level amendments during the discussion, and there were no formal votes at the meeting.