11-30-Electronic-Cover-letter-and-Report

On the other hand, there are limits to the districts ability to recoup savings from the
decline in enrollment. Mayoral academies historically have not attracted enrollment from the
same proportion of special education students served by the district. For example, children in
out-of-district special education placements, each of which can run into the tens of thousands of
dollars, do not apply to charter schools. There also is fixed overhead in form of the central office
and legacy retiree medical benefits. It is possible that RIDEs analysis will suggest greater
opportunities for saving. With that said, RIDEs consultant has not worked with the School
Department in developing an estimate; therefore, it may be beneficial for the two parties to
compare their models and find points of agreement and difference as part of the Councils
continued review.
Part 2: Sources of Fiscal Relief and Additional Stress
A. Additional State Funding
While the State recently revised the funding formula to address some of the funding gaps
in Providence, those changes only begin to address the underlying issues. This year, the State
included a new categorical pool of $2.24 million for English language learners (ELLs), of which
Providence received $1.54 million. See AF 5. According to a recent Kids Count study (see AF
7-9), Providence has 5,456 ELL students, which means that the States grant is less than $300 per
ELL student. In contrast, according to a recent study by the Education Commission of the States
(AF 10-16), the predominant national practice is to include a separate weight in the funding
formula (similar to the States student success factor for children in poverty), with an average
weight of 0.2. See AF-15. Using the State funding formulas core instructional amount per
student of $8,979 and Providences state share 0.88, a weight of 0.2 per ELL student would
5