Preliminary General Purpose Aid for Local Schools (GPA) Funding for FY 2011-12

INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 68
POLICY CODE: DB

TO: Superintendents of Schools
FROM: Angela Faherty, PhD., Commissioner
DATE: February 16, 2011
SUBJECT: Preliminary General Purpose Aid for Local Schools (GPA) Funding for FY 2011-12

The preliminary State subsidy information for your unit(s) is now available on the Department of Education Essential Programs and Services FY 2011-12 Funding website. These subsidy amounts for the FY 2011-12 year are only preliminary and do not represent final action of the 125th Legislature and therefore should only be used as “initial” guidance for your budget preparations. Some calculations included in these printouts are dependent upon enactment of statutory changes.

The spreadsheet posted on the Essential Programs & Services (EPS) website indicates the estimated local and State share – the State share does not include any of the federal stabilization funding provided under Title XIV, the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1, P.L. 111-5) as they are no longer available for FY 2011-12. This document provides unit-by-unit amounts including a comparison to FY 2010-11 funding as currently enacted. The FY 2011-12 subsidy printout (ED 279) will be mailed by February18, 2011.

You can find the spreadsheet on the EPS website: http://www.maine.gov/education/data/eps/epsmenu.htm
Click on the FY 2011-12 Funding link.

Please note that these estimates do not include the following:

School Construction projects approved for State participation that have not been bonded: The principal and interest amounts for un-bonded school construction projects are NOT included in this estimate. If you have an un-bonded project, you must estimate the local AND State impact and include these amounts in your budget for FY 2011-12.

Miscellaneous adjustments have NOT been included in these estimates. Miscellaneous adjustments include audit adjustments; educating students in long-term drug treatment centers adjustments; regionalization/consolidation/efficiency adjustments; and minimum teacher salary adjustments.

For additional questions regarding these estimates, please contact Jim Rier, Suzan Beaudoin, Joanne Allen or Paula Gravelle of the Department of Education’s School Finance and Operations at 207-624-6790 or by email to jim.rier@maine.gov , suzan.beaudoin@maine.gov , joanne.allen@maine.gov , or paula.b.gravelle@maine.gov