Politics & Government

School's $1.6 Million Hole Becomes $290,000 Surplus in State Budget

The House of Representatives will have a final vote on the fiscal 2013 state budget on Thursday.

The stands to get an extra $1.89 million in state aid thanks to increases in school funding by state leaders in the fiscal 2013 state budget, which heads to a final House vote on Thursday.

Lawmakers restored about $900,000 in federal Jobs Bill money, funded the second year of the state fair funding formula, accelerated the pace of state aid to underfunded school districts and boosted categorical aid (statewide busing and special education tuition assistance.)

If approved, the budget would wipe away the district's $1.6 million budget shortfall in one fell swoop. Superintendent Peter Nero handed the city a school budget that anticipated $1.6 million more from the city's annual appropriation. The city opted instead to level fund the district, leaving it with the burden of finding the $1.6 million somewhere else, most likely through cuts.

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Now, the district is poised to actually end up with "a positive budget variance of $290,083 which must be reconciled as part of the final 2012-2013 budget adoption" school finance chief Joe Balducci said in an e-mail message.

The budget figures were prepared by the finance office at the state Department of Education.

Find out what's happening in Cranstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In all, Cranston would get $39,188,868 from the state for fiscal 2013.

That $290,083 could go towards restoring programs that have been cut in recent years. 


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