Bristol and Warren have fought for years over funding the regional school district the two towns share. One would think a voter-approved referendum and a judge's ruling would finally settle the long-running argument.
Yet the battle continues. …
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Bristol and Warren have fought for years over funding the regional school district the two towns share. One would think a voter-approved referendum and a judge's ruling would finally settle the long-running argument.
Judge Luis Matos ruled earlier this month that the Bristol Warren Regional School District has been improperly distributing state aid for the past four years. Students in every town are given education aid based variables including socioeconomic factors. While Warren received more per pupil than Bristol, the regional school district added both towns’ aid award, then divided by the total number of students in the district, giving Warren less than it was due. As a result, the judge ruled Warren taxpayers were billed more for local aid than they should have been — to the tune of $2 million a year.
Some in Warren feel Bristol should reimburse that town for having paid too much over four years. Doing so would be unfair to Bristol, which is already paying more because of the voter-approved change in how student population is calculated. The two towns should continue with the proper state aid distribution from here on. Warren may have gotten a raw deal, but both towns have already spent the money. You can't turn back the clock.
But one local legislator wants to turn back the judge's ruling. Rep. Ray Gallison has proposed legislation that would have regional school districts apply state education aid equally to all students in the district, regardless of demographics. If approved, House bill 6106 would require that state aid be distributed to the school district “as one entity, and not as appropriations to individual municipalities.”
The proposed bill runs contrary to the intent of state education aid — to level the playing field for students in less affluent communities, helping them receive an equitable education to their peers in towns that have more to spend. Just as it would be unfair to ask Bristol to pay back $8 million that's already spent, it would be unfair to ask Warren to continue paying $2 million too much each year.
Now it's up to Warren — which pays the lowest per student of any town in the state other than Central Falls — to reinvest that $2 million a year into the school district.