Changes Eyed to Address “Major Equity Issue” With School Construction

Changes Eyed to Address “Major Equity Issue” With School Construction

Inflation Puts Greater Burden on Lynn, Gateway Cities

Source: State House News Service

Chris Lisinski,9/18/23 5:04 PM

SEPT. 18, 2023.....SEPT. 18, 2023.....Two-thirds of the school buildings in Lynn were standing when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was first inaugurated in 1952, according to Superintendent Evonne Alvarez. Four out of 10 are even older, dating back more than 100 years -- or before former Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge took over in the Oval Office.

And when the time comes to try and renovate or replace those aging structures, Lynn officials said Monday, they feel shortchanged by the state funding available through the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

"The system that funds school buildings is broken. However well-intentioned the designers of that system were to start, failing to take action now is defending what in our case has become indefensible," Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson told lawmakers. "We have ancient, crumbling buildings and we do our absolute best to keep them safe and extend the lifespan of those buildings, but that in turn sidetracks funding that's meant for other needs, including other educational needs."

Pitching their struggles as just one example of a broader problem plaguing less affluent communities, Lynn's top municipal and education leaders urged the Education Committee to overhaul the funding model for the MSBA, which is already preparing to make use of a summertime injection of new money.

Alvarez said the outdated conditions in her district's school buildings "hinder the ability to provide a 21st-century education."

"It sends a clear message to our students and community that equity is often mentioned, but not taken seriously by a system that should be funding equitable access to education," Alvarez said.

School and union officials from Lynn, Lawrence and Boston voiced support Monday for legislation filed by Rep. Dan Cahill and Sen. Brendan Crighton (H 441 / S 251), both Lynn residents, that would overhaul the MSBA funding process.

Their bill would double the amount of sales tax revenue automatically earmarked for the MSBA, lift a cap on reimbursement, and update how the funding formula considers a project's impact on low-income schools, according to a summary provided by Senator Crighton's office.

One change proposed by the bills would link the reimbursement rate paid by the MSBA to the average construction costs of all approved school projects in the previous three years, which supporters said would close a sizable gap in the current formula.

Under existing law, Lynn qualifies to have 80 percent of its school project costs reimbursed because of the city's financial footing. But Nicholson said the reimbursement rate set by the MSBA has not kept up with construction cost inflation.

State reimbursement covered about 65 percent of the costs of the Thurgood Marshall Middle School, which opened in 2016, Nicholson told the committee. Now, a project to replace the Pickering Middle School -- first built in 1905 with an addition in 1953 -- is on track for an effective reimbursement rate of 45 percent, he said.

Nicholson said the outdated reimbursement formula has put the Pickering project "on the brink of doability."

"Other Gateway Cities are in a similar position. When a system is left to this level of dysfunction, financially, it's no surprise that disparities result," Nicholson said. "Communities that can afford to pick up the slack do exactly that, and they should, that's the right thing to do. But communities that can't afford to pick up the slack suffer."

Sen. Jason Lewis, one of the Education Committee's co-chairs, agreed during the hearing that "we have a major equity issue because wealthier communities in many cases can still make up that difference in the lower reimbursement rate."

"Maybe they can pass an override, for example. But in the case of Lynn and many of our other Gateway Cities and less affluent communities, you are not in a position to do so, which means that these projects are at risk of not moving forward," Lewis said. "The larger issue here is one that is not only a major issue for the city of Lynn, but a lot of other Massachusetts communities as well."

Brant Duncan, the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts chapter, told lawmakers the rate at which the state can rebuild schools through MSBA support "isn't meeting the needs" in many communities.

Lawmakers and Gov. Maura Healey agreed earlier this year to give the MSBA more resources and flexibility to manage inflation's impact on school projects. The fiscal year 2024 state budget increased the annual cap on the amount of grants the agency can award each year to $1.2 billion, bumped up the rate at which the cap can grow in future years, excluded grants in the MSBA's accelerated repair program from counting toward the cap, and steered $100 million toward capital supports for districts struggling with inflated project costs.

While board members celebrated those changes, they said last month they believe more legislative action is necessary to address bigger-picture challenges.

"I think there's a larger fix to the problem. And the problem being defined as not having enough money to do as many projects or to increase caps so that poorer districts get closer to their real reimbursement rate," MSBA board member Sean Cronin, who is senior deputy commissioner for local services in the Department of Revenue, said at an Aug. 30 meeting.

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09/18/2023