Monadnock Ledger-Transcript - A COVID-era primer on school budgets
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What You Need to Know About School Budgets During the Pandemic
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What is the ‘COVID effect’ on school budgets this year?
Public school costs in New Hampshire are covered in large part by local property taxes, but each year, the state sends an important kind of aid to districts called “adequacy aid.” This per-pupil aid is calculated largely on a district’s overall student enrollment, as well as its poverty level from the prior year.
But during the pandemic, public school enrollment dropped significantly in many districts, as some parents decided to homeschool their children or send them to in-person classes at private schools. In addition, a change in the federal free and reduced price lunch program during the pandemic has made it difficult for districts to measure poverty levels and therefore, state aid (more on that here).
CONCORD â The House budget writing committee heard no opposition to maintaining current levels of state aid to school districts at a public hearing Tuesday.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, student enrollment and the method the state uses to determine the number of students who live in poverty are significantly lower than a year ago.
The lower enrollments would result in school districts losing about $90 million in state aid.
House Bill 623 would have the state distribute the same amount of education aid in the next two fiscal years, 2022 and 2023, as it distributes this fiscal year, 2021.
Lawmakers increased state aid to education by $178 million in the biennial budget approved in September 2019 by returning stabilization grants to their original level and providing additional aid to property poor districts and those with a greater number of low-income families.