By Kim Siebert MacPhail
Since 2005, Bedford’s Strategic Communications Task Force has sought to receive a permanent and consistent level of reimbursement for the education of Hanscom Air Force Base students who attend Bedford High School.
School Committee Chair Ed Pierce reported on October 8 that the Task Force—comprised of School and Town administrators and board members—will testify at a joint Statehouse hearing on October 17 as the next step in securing this goal.
As Pierce put it, the purpose of the ongoing effort is to “add legislation that will permanently fund reimbursements to the towns of Bedford and Bourne.” The bill—tagged as H 409— is thirteenth on the October 17 docket and is jointly sponsored by Representative Ken Gordon and Senator Mike Barrett. https://malegislature.gov/Events/EventDetail?eventId=622&eventDataSource=Hearings
Superintendent Jon Sills is one of Bedford’s administrators who will testify at the hearing. Sills said he has been in discussion with counterparts in Bourne about “parallel testimony.” Bourne educates students from Otis National Air Guard Base and experiences financial impacts similar to Bedford, including uncertainties and fluctuations in reimbursement levels that, without legislation, are vulnerable to yearly state appropriations negotiations.
A brief background about Bedford’s Hanscom student funding
Since it was formed in 2005, Bedford’s Strategic Communications Task Force has advocated for higher and more consistent reimbursement for Hanscom student— first at the federal level during the latter part of Senator Ted Kennedy’s tenure and later shifting to the state level, the most recent demonstration of which is H 409.
In some years, reimbursement has been substantial; in other years, it has fallen far short of expenses. In no year has reimbursement matched costs. According to David Coelho, Director of Finance for the Bedford Schools, the projected FY13 gap between what has been secured from the state and what will be spent by the town for each Hanscom student is $7,647. Over the years, the Hanscom/Bedford gap has fluctuated between $4,500 and $11,000, Coelho said.
Due to the continuing uncertainties of what reimbursement levels will be in any given year— and the strains these uncertainties put on the finances of the town— Bedford’s Selectmen placed securing adequate and consistent Hanscom funding on their list of “top priorities” in 2012. They shared this list with Representative Gordon and Senator Barrett shortly after the two were elected to office last November. [See: https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2012/12/06/selectmen-discuss-top-ten-priorities-with-newly-elected-barrett-and-gordon/]
Representative Gordon explained that next week’s hearing is part of his and Senator Barrett’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Hanscom reimbursement will be a permanent line item in the main part of the budget, rather than the subject of a battle for remaining funds after the majority of the state budget is settled.
“Now, Hanscom and Bourne reimbursements are discretionary: the House and the Senate put in additional impact aid for competing needs that compete for limited resources at the end of the budget process. [If the legislation is successful], it will mean the difference between adding in the funding afterwards and carrying the item forward from one budget to the next,” Gordon said.
Loading ...
