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Magnet School Funding Issues Continue

During the past summer Hartford area school districts, including Rocky Hill, were bracing for unanticipated tuition bills for students who elected to participate in Hartford Host Magnet Schools within the city of Hartford.   In Rocky Hill, we were notified the bill would be approximately $161,000! A significant amount to say the least!

After an extended session, the legislature managed to address the situation by providing the Hartford Public Schools with additional funding in the amount of $12,000 for each suburban student who attended a Hartford Host Magnet School (In Rocky Hill we have 35 students who are currently enrolled in Hartford Host Magnet Schools). 

To complicate matters, Rocky Hill also has 25 students who are residents of Hartford who attend school in Rocky Hill as a part of the Choice program.  Oddly enough, Rocky Hill only receives $2,500 for each of these students to attend our schools.  If you have detected a disparity, you are not alone.  Hartford receives $12,000 while suburban districts receive $2,000.  It appears to me that this is another attempt to shift the funding of state mandates from the state level to the local level.  I believe the system for building, managing and funding Magnet Schools is broken and I plan on becoming more vocal about the issue over the next few months.   Click on the link 'Superintendent's Notebook' and read the document Magnet School Funding: A Primer by Dr. David G. Title .  Dr. Title does an excellent job of explaining the issue.

Jeffrey A. Villar, Ph.D