Lynn School Finance FY13 & FY14

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released school finance information by district for fiscal years (FY) 2013 and 2014. Fiscal year 2013 ran from July 2012 through June 2013 while FY14 covers the period between July 2013 and June 2014. 

Below is the school finance information for Lynn in FY13.
 

The foundation budget listed above is the school spending budget amount as required by the state based on an enrollment of 14,382 students; foundation budgets also take into account the number of low income and Limited English Proficiency students as there are higher costs associated with educating these two demographic groups. The actual figure spent by the Lynn public school district is also listed. Finally, the required net school spending information includes the amount(s) that may have been carried over from previous years when a school district did not meet the required foundation budget. For example, if a school district is required to spend $10 million according to its foundation budget, but only spent $8 million then $2 million would be carried over and included in the required net spending for the next fiscal year. In FY13, Lynn met 96.4% of its required foundation budget spending but only 94.9% of its required net school spending including the amount required but not spent in the previous fiscal year (FY12), the most recent period for which the city started accruing carryovers that are still outstanding. A little over three-quarters of Lynn's foundation budget came from Chapter 70 state aid in FY13.

Based on the enrollment figure given, the FY13 per-pupil expenditure according to the figures listed were:

• Required Net: $11,704.45/student
• Foundation: $11,521.17/student
• Actual: $11,107.46/student

The difference between the required and actual was nearly $600 while the difference between the foundation and actual was a little over $400.

Lynn's foundation budget for FY14 increased a little over $8 million over FY13.
 

As we are still in the midst of FY14, the city's school spending is 'budgeted' as opposed to 'actual' and could potentially change before the end of the school year. The budgeted amount is more than Lynn's foundation budget in FY13 but is still lower than the required net spending or foundation budget for this year. In terms of Chapter 70 state aid, approximately 76.5% of Lynn's foundation budget was derived from state aid this year. The required net spending, which again includes carryovers from previous years, increased over $13 million between FY13 and FY14.

Here the figures are based on an enrollment of 14,898 students. The FY per-pupil expenditures based on these figures are as follows:

• Required Net: $12,220.27/student
• Foundation: $11,664.13/student
• Actual: $11,166.22/student

Lynn's underage, or the difference between the 'Required' and 'Actual/Budgeted' spending, for both FY13 and FY14 are listed below.

Preliminary FY15 projections put Lynn's foundation budget for the next fiscal year at $181,764,115 based on an enrollment of 15,431 students.

All data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu 
http://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/chapter70/compliance.html