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AC–2015ATM
<br />PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE
<br />rollment decrease of 17 students (5.4%). Special education (SPED) students comprise 49.9% of the
<br />school’s FTE enrollment.
<br />The FY2015 out-of-district tuition set by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
<br />Education (DESE), increased slightly to $18,467 per student from $18,309 in FY2014, and is expected to
<br />decrease in FY2016. Despite lobbying efforts by MRHS, the state-imposed tuition is determined by a
<br />formula which continues to underfund the district. In addition, out-of-district towns will continue to be
<br />assessed for non-resident SPED tuition at $4,500 per student and all transportation costs will continue to
<br />be assumed by the sending community.
<br />Revenues and expenses related to Post Graduate (PG) programs, including tuitions charged to in-district
<br />students and those assessed to towns, continue to be managed through a revolving account. This financial-
<br />ly isolates these programs from the rest of the school’s operating budget. PG enrollments have continued
<br />to drop after temporarily rising due to the down economy, partially due to the additional matching tuition
<br />charged to in-district students.
<br />Member towns are assessed for the upcoming year based on their student enrollment in the current year.
<br />These assessments are used to fund the portion of this budget that is not funded by the combination of:
<br />(1) all other projected revenues, and (2) member towns’ State Required Minimum (SRM) per-student
<br />payments. This year’s assessments are based on an MRHS budget funded with a projected $2,176,952 of
<br />Chapter 70 funds and $846,202 in transportation aid. These estimates are based on the Governor’s H-1
<br />budget, which indicates modest increases in funding of Chapter 70 aid and transportation aid compared
<br />with FY2015. These amounts are preliminary until final approval of the State’s FY2016 budget. Total
<br />assessments are increasing 6%.
<br />One significant change in the calculation of member town’s assessment is the elimination of the per-
<br />student SPED Assessment. The DESE recently ruled the District must include SPED costs as part of its
<br />regular operating costs and is required to spread the costs to member towns using the District Assessment
<br />formula. However the District is still allowed to charge a SPED surcharge to out-of-district tuition stu-
<br />dents.
<br />Lexington’s Projected Minuteman Assessment –based on unapproved House-1budget
<br />FTE BASISAVG.PER-PUPIL
<br />ASSESSMENT
<br />ENROLLMENT*CHARGE
<br />PROGRAM
<br />FY15FY16FY15FY16FY15FY16
<br />Grades 9-12:
<br />
<br />Regular Day Students41.5
<br />47.0$6,151$10,719$289,096$444,841
<br />Special Education Assessment26.0**$4,500**$117,000**
<br />State Minimums for Lexington49.043.0$14,449$14,667$707,981$630,671
<br />Totals, grades 9-12(inc. SPED)47.041.5$23,704$25,916$1,114,077$1,075,512
<br />Post Graduate Programs:
<br />5.03.0$3,000$3,375$15,000$10,125
<br />TOTAL OPERATING
<br />44.5$24,396$1,085,637
<br />52.0$21,713$1,129,077
<br />Capital Assessment $2,453$2,824$115,308$117,176
<br />TOTAL ASSESSMENT
<br />$27,030$1,202,813
<br />$23,930$1,244,385
<br />%increase (decrease) over prior year(-2.61%)12.95%(-15.59%)(-3.34%)
<br />*-prior year's enrollment as of October 1
<br />**-SPED Assessment discontinued
<br />A breakdown of the full assessment is shown above. Lexington’s FY2015 enrollment (as of October 1,
<br />2014) was 41.5 full-time regular students in grades 9-12. This “basis enrollment” is used to calculate the
<br />per-student assessment for Regular Day Students and the Capital Assessment in FY2015. This is a drop in
<br />enrollment of 5.5 Regular Day students and 9 Post Graduate students.
<br />9
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