Committee hears school budget update; preliminary data show 4.3% education spending change
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Summary
Education Finance Director Kelly Murphy told the Ways & Means committee that 84% of school budgets have been submitted so far, representing about 88% of long-term weighted ADM, and that current data point to roughly a 4.3% change in education spending though figures remain preliminary and subject to town-meeting votes.
The Ways & Means Committee received a status update on school budget submissions on Feb. 17. Kelly Murphy, the state’s education finance director, said the office had collected budgets from roughly 100 of about 122 districts so far and that the current compilation represents about 88% of long-term weighted average daily membership.
Murphy said the office has collected 84% of district budgets to date and that the aggregated figures point to an estimated 4.3% change in education spending compared with the prior period, but she repeatedly warned that the figures are preliminary and will change as remaining districts and town-meeting votes are recorded. “We are really getting there…we've got almost about 90% of the budgets in,” Murphy said while reviewing the posted memo and tables.
Committee members pressed staff on timing and the effect of unresolved ballots. Murphy said about 20 districts remain outstanding, roughly half of which have not yet held school-board votes, and that some districts vote at town meeting in May or by Australian ballot, outcomes that can alter the final numbers. She noted that budgets approved on the floor can be amended and that Australian ballot results are final as printed.
Members asked for more detail breaking this year’s collections into spending categories and for comparisons to last year’s actuals. Murphy said staff will incorporate receipts received since Sunday and bring a more detailed comparison at the next meeting. She also said the office is preparing a forecasting sheet to inform the yield bill and will load long-term weighted student counts when those data are available.
The committee did not take any formal votes on the budget-reporting item. The session then moved to a separate presentation on longer-term education finance and property-tax scenarios.
