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Staff: stimulus and state budget talks could restore some education cuts; school-specific funds limited by rules
Summary
Legislative update: staff reported the House and Senate remain divided over how to use the state fiscal stabilization (stimulus) funds; preliminary guidance would send at least $350 million to K–12, and Hampton’s schools are slated to receive $2.6M/year in Title I and $2.9M/year in special-education funds for two years, subject to federal strings.
Mary Bunting, giving the council a legislative update, summarized an ongoing negotiation in Richmond over how to apply federal stimulus funds and restore state cuts. She said the state fiscal stabilization fund totals roughly $1.2 billion over two years and that preliminary plans would direct a large portion to K–12 and Medicaid.
Bunting provided local estimates for restricted federal education dollars: “For our Hampton School system, that's $2,600,000 per year for 2 years in Title I and $2,900,000 per year in special ed for 2 years,” she said, adding that those allocations come with strict rules about permissible uses and likely cannot be used to offset all local or state reductions.
She also said the House and Senate positions differ on restoring specific revenue streams (for example, 5.99/599 funds) and that staff will provide written follow-ups and a Friday council memo with updates. Council members asked staff to provide bullet summaries and to post survey and stimulus-submission status online so citizens can track which local projects were submitted for stimulus consideration.
