Report identifies challenges for rural schoolsDate: 8/23/2022 WESTERN MASS. – Declining populations and enrollments, issues with broadband and transportation and rising costs are some of the challenges being faced by rural school districts.
The Commission on the Fiscal Health of Rural School District, which included state Rep. Natalie Blais and state Sen. Adam Hinds, has defined the problems facing rural school district in the commonwealth and those issues and potential solutions are in a report entitled “A Sustainable Future for Rural Schools.”
The report noted, “The members of this Commission feel strongly that these challenges must be addressed now so that rural schools may move forward on an equal playing field, with self-reliance and hope. Across the nation, 37 states specifically address the fiscal challenges faced by rural school districts. Massachusetts can respond effectively and decisively to its own rural school challenges with a set of cost-effective measures that will provide long-term solutions”
Blais, in an interview with Reminder Publishing, said the main theme of the report’s conclusion is that rural school districts need “consistent, predictable and sustainable funding.”
The report is simply not about schools, though, but the effect of schools have in creating a trained workforce and attracting new people to rural areas, she added.
The legislative term “subject to appropriation,” Blais said, “does not allow us to have a predictable sustainable funding stream.”
The report notes issues such as transportation. Blais noted. Many of the school buses in rural districts use dirt roads to reach students. “We don’t have quick access to highways,” she said.
The condition of those roads is part of the overall problem rural schools are facing, she added. With additional weather events caused by climate changes those roads can become impassible.
“So much of this is about infrastructure,” she said. Blais noted issues such as modern “green” school buildings and access to broadband.
She referenced a report conducted by State Auditor Suzanne Bump that came to the conclusion that Western Massachusetts has been left behind in terms of infrastructure improvements.
Rural communities must address the impact of Proposition 2 ½, an aging population, level of wages and average earnings and changes to the environment as part of the problem.
“They are all tied together so intimately,” Blais said.
Blais sees the report as “just the beginning” to address the challenges.
She added, “We need everyone working in the commonwealth together to make these changes.”
Hinds told Reminder Publishing he believes the report has raised awareness on the Legislature about the challenges facing rural school and leadership in the House and Senate are realizing the unique challenges.
A graduate of Mohawk Regional High School himself, he explained many of his colleagues in government have expressed that the idea that more regional schools are the answer. Hinds explained that regional schools create additional transportation issues for schools districts and parents.
He said rural school funding needs to be increased, as well as transportation options.
This report highlights how regional differences have translated into students in rural school districts ending up with less than they need and deserve.
From the report:
In particular: Rural areas have flat population growth and accelerated declining student enrollments. Rural districts are situated within municipalities whose relatively remote locations have isolated them from the economic opportunities enjoyed by much of the state. As a result, small town governments must fund increasingly higher proportions of their school budgets from an insufficient and stagnant tax base.
• Districts with very low student enrollments cost substantially more to fund on a per-pupil basis than typical school districts. This report finds that districts with 1,300 students or fewer cost 16.7 percent more to operate than the state average and that small K-12 regional school districts cost 22.7 percent more to operate than larger ones. By under-calculating their operational costs, these districts receive insufficient Chapter 70 aid.
• School districts in sparsely populated areas have substantially greater student transportation costs and have limited potential for consolidating schools due to long travel times.
• Between 2012 and 2020 rural districts lost 4,232 students or 13.9 percent of their enrollment. Over the same period, the state’s total enrollment declined by 4,541 students or 0.5 percent. School districts that have experienced years of declining student enrollment remain saddled with high per-pupil legacy costs. This report finds that the average employee and retiree benefits costs for the 31 districts with the highest decline in enrollment was $1,021 per pupil or 34.1 percent greater than the state average.
• Over time, course offerings, student support services, and extracurricular activities have been substantially reduced in rural schools due to underfunding. In some cases, these reductions have driven students to seek alternatives, particularly through school choice. This compounded enrollment loss further reduces funding and a downward cycle of reduced enrollment, reduced funding, and diminished educational experience continues.
The commission suggested the following steps to address
• Rural School Aid: Substantially increase funding for the state’s rural school aid program and explore revising the formula to further close the gap between rural districts’ actual costs and their current level of state funding.
• School Transportation: Implement recommendations from the Special Commission on Student Transportation Efficiencies targeting student transportation costs and consider transportation reimbursements to rural districts with a demonstrated need.
• Declining Enrollment: Provide funding to districts with substantial and sustained enrollment losses and move to a rolling foundation average in the foundation budget formula.
• Regionalization: Increase incentives and supports for rural school districts to combine and form more cost-effective regional school district.
• Shared Services: Provide incentives and technical support for rural districts to adopt shared services agreements including but not limited to forming superintendency unions.
• Special Education: Address the high costs of special education by making available the use of extraordinary relief funding for rural districts, establishing a Special Education Funding Reform Commission, reimbursing for high-cost student during the same academic year, enhancing workforce incentives and more.
• School Choice: Cap the number of students leaving rural districts through the school choice program and further explore the unique impact of school choice, charter schools and vocational schools on rural school districts.
• Health Insurance: Reduce the rising costs of health insurance by providing state technical expertise to evaluate the feasibility of joint purchasing plans and the option of buying into Medicare for certain retirees, ensuring that districts explore all available options before purchasing health insurance on their own and involving the GIC in exploring affordable healthcare options.
To read the complete report, go to http://www.repblais.org/ruralschools.
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