Peabody Schools Expect 3 Percent Bump In State Funding

Peabody MA

29 January, 2021

4:29 PM

Description

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Public Schools are likely to see an increase of about 3 percent in state funding through the implementation of the state's Student Opportunity Act, which Gov. Charlie Baker's submitted Fiscal Year 2022 budget intends to fully fund for the first time. The $45.6 billion FY22 budget released Thursday includes $246.3 million in new funding for the act, which overhauls the formula that determines how much state aid school districts get. The law had already been put on hold once because of the pandemic. Peabody Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala told Patch on Thursday his office was "diving in" to what it means for the district, but he estimated it would be about the 3 percent raise. "Not a huge impact to Peabody because each year to maintain level services you do need a slight increase," he said. "The 3 percent is helpful, but it's very small compared to other communities that are getting 10 to 15 percent." The Student Opportunity Act, passed into law in 2019, maps out a path to infusing $1.5 billion into districts over seven years, revamping the formula that determined Chapter 70 funds. It was hailed by lawmakers and education advocates as a needed investment into bridging the inequity gap in school funding. Funding was scrapped for what would have been its first year due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, schools were level-funded under the old formula as federal funding backed costs associated with the coronavirus, like personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and remote learning infrastructure. While some have argued the state should increase the funding to keep the act on the same 7-year-old schedule, Baker's budget mostly simply starts the funding one year later than originally planned. The new formula is meant to help local districts with costs associated with low-income students, special education services, English language learners, guidance and psychological services and employee health benefits. "Peabody is an interesting community because it's a city and we do have some need but we're not quite as diverse as some of the larger cities," said Vadala, the former superintendent in Revere. "The bump will help. But to be honest our budget was hit so hard last year we're still trying to recover." Vadala said that significant additional investments will be needed in coming years because of the time lost and disrupted because of the coronavirus health crisis – from helping students who fell behind while in remote and hybrid learning, to dealing with the social and emotional issues that may develop from having such an extended time away from a typical school calendar. Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)