2018-03-26-AC-ATM-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE-2018 ATM the new building. This reverses three years of shrinking freshman class size. Increases were seen in both in-district and out-of-district enrollments. Out-of-district recruiting remains a challenge, primarily due to a Massachusetts Department of Elemen- tary and Secondary Education (DESE) change to Chapter 74 regulations, which now prevents the enroll- ment of 9th grade students from towns that have traditionally sent a large number of students if they have an in-town vocational program. Despite lobbying efforts by MRHS, the state-imposed tuition rate set by DESE continues to underfund the District. The out-of-district tuition was $16,728 per student in FY2018 and is expected to increase to $17,000 in FY2019. Out-of-district towns are also assessed SPED tuition at $4,500 per student and are responsible for providing transportation to their students. Member towns are assessed operating costs for the upcoming year based on their most recent 4-year aver- age student enrollment. These assessments are used to fund the portion of the MRHS operating budget that is not funded by the combination of(1) all other projected revenues, and (2)member towns' State Required Minimum (SRM) per-student payments. Debt and capital costs are assessed based on (1) the most recent 4 year rolling average; (2) a"combined effort" factor as determined by the Chapter 70 formu- la; and(3) 1%of the annual debt that is assessed equally to all member towns. This year's assessments are based on an MRHS budget funded with a projected decrease in non- assessment revenue of$107,477,the drivers of which are identified in the following table: Non-Assessment Revenue Sources FY2018 FY2019 Difference ($) ($) ($) Chapter 70 $2,037,863 $2,081,683 $43,820 Prior Year Tuition $3,380,021 $3,438,424 $58,403 Transportation Reimbursement $935,112 $880,412 -$54,700 Current Year Tuition $400,000 $400,000 0 E&D Funds $695,000 $540,000 -$155,000 Sub-total $7,447,996 $7,340,519 Total Revenue Change -$107,477 Chapter 70 funds and transportation aid are estimates based on the Governor's H-2 budget, which propos- es modest increases in Chapter 70 aid and transportation aid statewide compared with FY2018. MRHS's share of Chapter 70 aid increases slightly. Transportation Aid decreases slightly because it is a reim- bursement for expenses incurred in the prior year. The use of funds from the Excess & Deficiency (E&D) account, similar in function to "Free Cash", has dropped $155,000. This drop is more than the $130,000 reduction seen in the current year's (FY2018) revenue plan. 13