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Malloy Slashes State Aid To New Canaan Schools In Proposed Budget

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Gov. Dannel Malloy released his proposed state budget for the next two years on Wednesday, which dramatically reduces or outright eliminates Education Cost Sharing grants for some of the wealthiest towns in Fairfield County, while maintaining or increasing aid for some of the larger cities.

Gov. Dannel Malloy's proposed budget for the next two years includes some big changes in how the state provides aid to schools.

Gov. Dannel Malloy's proposed budget for the next two years includes some big changes in how the state provides aid to schools.

Photo Credit: Jay Polansky, File

In announcing his budget, Malloy said that the state would use a new formula in deciding how much money municipalities would receive in municipal aid, the majority of which goes toward schools in the form of ECS grants. The new formula would account for the wealth of towns as well as school enrollment, so that smaller and more affluent communities would receive less aid, while larger and less affluent communities would receive more.

Related: Some Towns May Shoulder More School Costs Under Malloy's Proposed Budget

Another change is that, in previous years, ECS grants have included money for special education. Under the proposed budget, those special education dollars would come from a separate fund.

Greenwich is the only Connecticut town in the proposed budget that would receive no ECS or special education grants.

Ten Fairfield County towns – Brookfield, Darien, Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Sherman, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton – would receive no ECS grants but would still receive special education grants.

Three cities – Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford – would receive more ECS grants than in the previous year, in addition to special education grants.

The remaining nine municipalities in Fairfield County – Bethel, Bridgeport, Easton, Monroe, New Fairfield, Newtown, Redding, Shelton, and Stratford – would receive less money in ECS grants but would still receive some special education grants. Some of these towns would end up receiving more money overall than they did in the previous year.

“I believe that the updated ECS formula in my budget is more equitable, more transparent, and more fair,” Malloy said in his budget remarks. “By considering a given community’s ability to pay, we can adjust to what taxpayers can actually afford.”

Below is a town-by-town breakdown of ECS grant totals for 2017, proposed ECS grant totals for 2018, proposed special education grant totals for 2018, the total proposed school aid for 2018, and the year-to-year difference for every town in Fairfield County:

Bethel

  • ECS 2017: $8,087,732
  • ECS 2018: $4,209,487
  • Special Education 2018: $2,666,383
  • Total School Aid 2018: $6,875,870
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,211,862 (14.9 percent)

Bridgeport

  • ECS 2017: $181,105,390
  • ECS 2018: $155,146,948
  • Special Education 2018: $39,109,458
  • Total School Aid 2018: $194,256,406
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $13,151,016 (7.2 percent)

Brookfield

  • ECS 2017: $1,417,583
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $903,182
  • Total School Aid 2018: $903,182
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $514,401 (36.2 percent)

Danbury

  • ECS 2017: $31,290,480
  • ECS 2018: $33,594,209
  • Special Education 2018: $10,515,687
  • Total School Aid 2018: $44,109,896
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $12,819,416 (40 percent)

Darien

  • ECS 2017: $406,683
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $101,525
  • Total School Aid 2018: $101,525
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $305,158 (75 percent)

Easton

  • ECS 2017: $177,907
  • ECS 2018: $14,462
  • Special Education 2018: $328,098
  • Total School Aid 2018: $342,560
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $164,653 (92 percent)

Fairfield

  • ECS 2017: $1,087,165
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $2,140,179
  • Total School Aid 2018: $2,140,179
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $1,053,014 (96.8 percent)

Greenwich

  • ECS 2017: $136,859
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $0
  • Total School Aid 2018: $0
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $136,859 (100 percent)

Monroe

  • ECS 2017: $6,394,518
  • ECS 2018: $1,090,703
  • Special Education 2018: $1,530,266
  • Total School Aid 2018: $2,620,969
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $3,773,549 (59 percent)

New Canaan

  • ECS 2017: $339,590
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $116,734
  • Total School Aid 2018: $116,734
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $222,856 (65.6 percent)

New Fairfield

  • ECS 2017: $4,338,569
  • ECS 2018: $543,196
  • Special Education 2018: $1,236,958
  • Total School Aid 2018: $1,780,154
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $2,558,415 (58.9 percent)

Newtown

  • ECS 2017: $4,893,944
  • ECS 2018: $969,688
  • Special Education 2018: $2,408,508
  • Total School Aid 2018: $3,378,196
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,515,748 (30.9 percent)

Norwalk

  • ECS 2017: $11,243,340
  • ECS 2018: $11,952,439
  • Special Education 2018: $5,842,488
  • Total School Aid 2018: $17,794,927
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $6,551,587 (58.2 percent)

Redding

  • ECS 2017: $180,135
  • ECS 2018: $16,000
  • Special Education 2018: $430,780
  • Total School Aid 2018: $446,780
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $266,645 (148 percent)

Ridgefield

  • ECS 2017: $571,648
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $532,259
  • Total School Aid 2018: $532,259 
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $39,389 (6.89 percent)

Shelton

  • ECS 2017: $5,893,771
  • ECS 2018: $2,104,762
  • Special Education 2018: $2,637,222
  • Total School Aid 2018: $4,741,984
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,151,787 (19.5 percent)

Sherman

  • ECS 2017: $46,611
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $96,343
  • Total School Aid 2018: $96,343
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $49,732 (106.6 percent)

Stamford

  • ECS 2017: $10,803,759
  • ECS 2018: $16,246,944
  • Special Education 2018: $6,381,603
  • Total School Aid 2018: $22,628,547
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $11,824,788 (109.4 percent)

Stratford

  • ECS 2017: $21,461,782
  • ECS 2018: $19,204,491
  • Special Education 2018: $9,326,861
  • Total School Aid 2018: $28,531,352
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $7,069,570 (32.9 percent)

Trumbull

  • ECS 2017: $3,418,401
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $2,535,858
  • Total School Aid 2018: $2,535,858
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $882,543 (25.8 percent)

Weston

  • ECS 2017: $263,431
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $150,203
  • Total School Aid 2018: $150,203
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $113,228 (42.98 percent)

Westport

  • ECS 2017: $465,334
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $198,687
  • Total School Aid 2018: $198,687
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $266,647 (57.3 percent)

Wilton

  • ECS 2017: $462,941
  • ECS 2018: $0
  • Special Education 2018: $431,204
  • Total School Aid 2018: $431,204
  • Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $31,737 (6.85 percent)

The Connecticut General Assembly has until the end of its legislative session in June to debate, make adjustments to, and decide on the proposed budget. You can see the complete budget by clicking here.

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