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2022 ATM,2022-1 STM APPROPRIATION COXMTTEE 21 MARCH 2022
<br /> appropriation by Town Meeting and are therefore not included in the request under this article. The amounts of
<br /> these funds vary year to year.
<br /> • Federal Grants—In the current budget year(FY2022),the Town and schools have benefited from Covid-19
<br /> related aid through the federal CARES act. For FY2023,the School Department does not expect to receive
<br /> this funding again; however it does expect to receive $2,239,084 in other federal grants. For details, see the
<br /> LPS Budget Book Grant Fund Summary 2.
<br /> • State Grants — The School Department projects that it will receive $1,767,131 in FY2023 from the state
<br /> METCO program,which represents no change from FY2022. Based on the 2021-2022 METCO enrollment
<br /> of 220 students, the projected state aid averages to $3,372 per METCO student. Cherry-sheet local aid for
<br /> education, i.e., Chapter 70 aid, is treated as General Fund revenue and is not included in state grants.
<br /> • "Circuit Breaker"Reimbursements— Reimbursements are received from the state when the costs of special
<br /> education services for an individual student, whether in-district or out-of-district, exceed a multiple of four
<br /> times the statewide foundation budget. In the past, reimbursement rates have varied between 35%and 75%
<br /> of the tuition cost. Circuit Breaker reimbursement funds are paid to the district quarterly based on the prior
<br /> year's approved claims. Funds received go into the Circuit Breaker Revolving Account, do not require
<br /> further appropriation, and must be expended by June 30 of the following fiscal year. The Lexington Public
<br /> Schools' current practice is to apply a large fraction of the funds received in a given fiscal year (based on
<br /> SPED expenses in the prior fiscal year) as a revenue offset in the following fiscal year. For example, LPS
<br /> will receive (or has received) a reimbursement in FY2022 based on FY2021 SPED expenses, and will use
<br /> most of that reimbursement to offset SPED costs in FY2023.
<br /> A detailed exposition of the LPS Circuit Breaker funding may be found in the LPS Budget Book on page Revenue
<br /> Offsets-5. In brief, the District projected a 70% reimbursement rate for FY2022, yielding an FY2022 Circuit
<br /> Breaker reimbursement of $5,115,409, of which $866,580 was spent in FY2022. The remaining $4,248,829
<br /> received during FY2022 is budgeted for use in FY2023. The Circuit Breaker reimbursement for FY2023 is
<br /> projected to be $4,548,402, of which another $866,580 will be applied to the FY2023 budget, leaving $3,681,822
<br /> for use in FY2024.
<br /> Fee Programs
<br /> Fees for participation in certain programs, such as preschool, athletics, and transportation, support those programs
<br /> in whole or in part. Detailed information about the fees and proposed fee changes may be found in the "Revenue
<br /> Offsets" section of the LPS Budget Book.
<br /> Regional High School (1200)
<br /> Lexington's FY2023 projected assessment for the Minuteman Regional High School (MRHS) of $3,223,898
<br /> represents an increase of $93,860, or 3%, over FY2022. It follows on the prior year's increase of 9% and an
<br /> increase of 15.9% from FY2020 to FY2021. While Lexington's four year rolling average enrollment, the
<br /> enrollment number that our assessment is based on, grew from 59.38 to 63 students, our assessment increase is
<br /> modest because Lexington's enrollment growth is lower,percentage wise,than the district average.
<br /> The District's Budget
<br /> The Minuteman Regional High School (MRHS) Committee has approved a FY2023 budget of $29,010,622, a
<br /> $1,370,034 increase (5.0%) over FY2022. The increase is the net effect of a 7.2%increase in the cost of operations
<br /> and a$33,000 decrease in debt costs attributable to construction of the new MRHS building and athletic fields.
<br /> This budget funds the fourth year of operations in the new school building, which was designed for an enrollment
<br /> of up to 628 students. Response to the new facility has been very strong and current high school enrollment is 655
<br /> students. Of the total, 538 students come from the nine member towns of the school district, and the remaining 117
<br /> students come from out-of-district communities.
<br /> District Developments
<br /> While it was anticipated that the new school building would drive increased applications, the success continues to
<br /> exceed expectations. For the last three years, and for the upcoming year, more than 200 applications have been
<br /> received from in-district students. In-district students are given priority, and for three consecutive years almost all
<br /> of the incoming freshman class will be in-district. This enrollment trend means that by FY2025 the school
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