Swampscott schools could get more state aid

SWAMPSCOTT-Superintendent of Schools Matthew Malone said more accurate record keeping might result in the district receiving a little more state aid than was anticipated.?We may do better in state aid than you would think,” he said. “Our demographics are different.”Malone quickly added the demographics haven’t changed all that much, but the demographics are being reported more accurately to the state.?We’ve tightened things up,” he said. “We made sure all kids are accurately represented. We have a more realistic picture of our students.”Malone said Chapter 70 and Title I funding from the state are calculated using a series of complex formulas, which are based on sets of data including income, non-native English speakers and other variables.Malone said the district hired an English Language Learner Coordinator last year and as a result realized it had 20 more students eligible for English as Second Language services.Another area that has an impact on the amount of state aid received is the number of students receiving free or reduced price lunch.?We encouraged all our students eligible for free or reduced lunch to apply he said. “The more students we have receiving free and reduced lunch, the more aid we receive.”Malone said he doesn’t know how much additional money the district would receive, but he said it’s not a cure all and it certainly wouldn’t make the $1.2 million funding gap for the upcoming fiscal year disappear.?It’s something,” he said. “We need to make sure we get every cent in state aid we are entitled to.”School Committee Chairman David Whelan, who is on the finance sub-committee of the School Committee, said the more accurate reporting of students could be beneficial to the district and he is also hoping there would be an increase in the amount of state aid due to changes in Chapter 70 funding formulas.Whelan pointed out Swampscott is one of only 69 communities in the state currently receiving less than 17.5 percent of its foundation budget from the state.According to data provided by Whelan, in FY 07, the district received 13.86 percent of its foundation budget from the state and for FY 09 it received 14.3 percent.?We’re in the third year of a five year phase-in designed to get us up to 17.5 percent (of our foundation budget),” he said. “I anticipate an incremental increase again this year to get us closer to the 17.5 percent most other communities are receiving.”Whelan and Malone said they do not know how much the district would actually receive from the state.