Bump analyzed the funding mechanisms for the new law at the request of the school districts of Leverett and Ashburnham-Westminster.
BOSTON - State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump said Thursday that state government must pay for the alternative education services that local school districts have to provide when students have been expelled or suspended from school.
Bump said she hopes the opinion she issued will help the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to effectively implement a new law which will take effect July 1, 2014.
Suzanne Bump The new law, Chapter 222, requires local school districts to provide access to education alternatives for students who are either expelled or suspended for more than 10 consecutive school days.
The law, which does not take effect until July 1, 2014, was created with the intention of maintaining a student’s access to education and to help prevent students from dropping out.
Under a local mandate law, any post 1980 state law or regulation that imposes additional costs upon municipalities must either be fully funded by the state or be subject to local acceptance, Bump said.
Bump wrote that existing Chapter 70 education funds fall short of meeting the standards of the local mandate law.
“If the law was in effect today, the state would not provide a school district with additional funding for complying with Chapter 222 until a per student cost exceeded $38,916,” Bump said.
Bump said the intent of her opinion is to assist the state education department and the Legislature in implementing the new law.
Bump analyzed the funding mechanisms for the new law at the request of the school districts of Leverett and Ashburnham-Westminister.
Bump said the education department will be required to file a report with the state Legislature by November 30 on the cost of implementing the law.
In a letter to Leverett selectmen Chairman Richard Brazeau, Bump said her opinion does not relieve the town of Leverett from the duty of complying with the law.
Brazeau could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Bump said municipalities may seek additional state funding to comply with the law or an exemption from compliance.
In addition, an aggrieved community may petition the Superior Court for an exemption from compliance.