Harvard will receive a windfall from the state circuit-breaker program for special education totaling $209,405, Superintendent Thomas Jefferson confirmed this week. He said that he received notification from the state that the school district qualifies for extraordinary relief, sometimes referred to as “pothole money,” in that amount. Finance Director Lorraine Leonard had reported in late March that the town could expect between $100,000 and $200,000, depending on the number and amounts of claims filed.
Currently, the circuit-breaker program operates by reimbursing districts for out-of-district tuition costs in excess of four times the foundation budget—about $35,000 in Harvard’s case—at a rate of 72 to 85 percent. Extraordinary relief kicks in when out-of-district tuition costs exceed those of the previous year by more than 25 percent.
Because circuit-breaker reimbursement occurs the year after the cost is incurred, and recognizing that districts have to spend in the current year for unexpected placements of new students moving into town, the state developed the relief program to help districts with cash-flow problems.
What makes this relief a windfall, Jefferson said, is that “we can claim it and it will not inhibit our ability to factor in those same costs when we submit our circuit-breaker application for next year.” He added that it is a good thing that Harvard is eligible this year, because it is his understanding that the program will be eliminated next year. There is talk, he said, of changing the circuit-breaker program so that reimbursements are made the same year the expenses occur, similar to the way the school choice program works.
