When we look at the bacon bits that Norwalk and Stamford get for ECS funding, let’s not overlook the capital spending our Hartford legislators dole out on a regularly basis for building schools. The Courant reports on the errant enrollment projection figures submitted in order to qualify for the most state money and the subsequent shocking reality of low enrollments. The Courant:
Faulty enrollment projections led the state to overpay three districts for construction projects audited over the last two years. The state Department of Education initially sought money back. But in each case, state officials let the districts off the hook, leaving state taxpayers to pick up the tab of more than $6 million.
In other cases, school districts have sought state money for construction projects using enrollment projection methods that violate state law, according to a state auditor’s report released last month. By potentially overestimating student enrollment, the auditor warned, districts could build schools that are larger than necessary — at a greater cost to build and operate — to state and local taxpayers than might otherwise be required.
Oops
The flawed projections happened for various reasons. Some districts projected enrollment for the entire school system rather than just the school, as state law requires. Others used 10-year projections, even though state law calls for state funding to be calculated using projections extending only eight years.Not every instance of inappropriate projections led to enrollment disparities big enough for the state to seek money back, but it did in West Hartford, New Haven and Portland.
West Hartford used a 10-year projection to estimate student enrollment for an expansion and renovation project at Conard High School, according to a state Department of Education audit. The figure overestimated enrollment by 80 students, leading the audit to recommend that West Hartford repay some of the money.
New Haven, meanwhile, didn’t use any standard enrollment projection method when applying for funding for The Sound School, a $28 million aquaculture magnet school built entirely with state money.
Officials there decided how big they wanted the school to be, then determined how many students the space would accommodate, the Department of Education audit said. A 1994 proposal called for a 30,800-square-foot school for 185 students. By the time the school was built, the proposal had ballooned to a 68,600-square-foot school for 360 students.
But the school never enrolled more than 319 students in the projection’s eight-year time frame, and a state Department of Education audit suggested that New Haven be docked $1.7 million.
In Portland’s case, officials applying for state funding in 2001 initially estimated that student enrollment would peak at 780 within eight years, then changed the figure to 1,070 three months later.
State and Portland officials offer different explanations for how the figure was reached and who was responsible for it. School board Chairman Chris Hetrick said the state Department of Education recommended the change, which reflected estimates using housing starts. State Department of Education spokesman Tom Murphy said that’s not the case.
Regardless, the school was built for nearly twice as many students as now use it. Some of the space has been used for special education, and officials have considered opening space in the school for outside educational groups to use for a fee.
Hetrick said the state should have stopped the project before construction if the figures were off, rather than letting it go forward and checking the numbers only after the school was built. But Murphy said it was the district’s responsibility to use accurate figures.
The department audited the project after it was completed and recommended that Portland repay the state and taxpayers $4.6 million.
Off the Hook
That didn’t happen.
In fact, the Portland, Conard and Sound school projects had one thing in common: When the districts were faced with repaying money the state said they overspent, state officials bailed them out.
At least West Hartford has decent capt scores.
source: Courant, Faulty School Projections Prove Costly To Taxpayers, By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER, July 25, 2008
