NEWS

As new students pour in, Central Falls seeks funds

400 new students have enrolled since last spring, when this year's school budget was set

Linda Borg
lborg@providencejournal.com
Students scurry out of a classroom at Calcutt Middle School in Central Falls last week as they change classes. The district has been dealing with a sudden influx of students this year, which has strained already thin resources. [The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo]

CENTRAL FALLS — The state's smallest city has experienced such an influx of new students that the district is asking for $1 million in emergency funds to keep the schools afloat.

Four hundred new students, many of them from Guatemala, have arrived here since last spring, when the Rhode Island Department of Education established the district's fiscal 2020 school budget. In fact, a new student arrives in Central Falls approximately every other day, according to Interim Supt. Stephanie Downey Toledo.

Downey Toledo was named interim superintendent last summer after Victor Capellan was hired as senior adviser to state education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. 

"The current funding structure doesn't take into account that a school system would see this much fluctuation in enrollments in a given school year," Downey Toledo said Friday.

This year's budget was based on an enrollment of 2,650 students, the estimate from last spring. Since then, enrollment has jumped to 3,000 — the highest in 10 years.

Central Falls, unlike every other Rhode Island school district, receives all of its school aid from the state. The state Department of Education imposed a spending and hiring freeze for the current budget year to avoid a budget deficit.

The surge in new enrollments, combined with the tight budget, leaves the district struggling to meet the basic educational needs of its students, most of whom are English language learners and many are newcomers.

Classes are bursting, with as many as 38 students in some classrooms.

At the high school, there are hardly any electives. Downey Toledo has had to pay some teachers to work during their unassigned periods. It's also harder for students to get their first choice of courses because demand is so high.

The district is not only rationing paper, it's begging for donations. Staples recently donated $5,000 worth of supplies.

Alumni have been especially generous, Downey Toledo said. One alumnus is helping the district build a data warehouse. Viola Davis, an award-winning actress who grew up in Central Falls, this week donated $10,000 for high school arts.

The district held a fundraiser last month, selling soccer-style scarves with the Warriors logo, because they didn't have enough chargers for their Chrome books.

"It's been a very challenging year," Downey Toledo said. "But our teachers find a way to create opportunities for students."

Both Downey Toledo and Stephanie Gonzalez, chairwoman of the district's Board of Trustees, say the funding formula shortchanges students with multiple needs.

The formula gives districts extra state aid based on the number of students who receive free or reduced-price lunch, a proxy for poverty. But districts don't get additional aid through the formula if the same student also has special needs or is an English language learner. 

"Many of our students fall into two or three of those categories," Downey Toledo said. "I think about a student who lives in poverty, has an individual learning plan and is learning English. The funding formula doesn't account for all of those needs."

The existing budget crisis, however, is not the product of one year of under-funding, but multiple years, Gonzalez said. The district is also suffering from years of deferred maintenance. Just this week, a standardized test was halted after the server broke down.

"That's a perfect example of the systemic injustices in our community," Gonzalez said. "It reflects the tough decisions any school leader has to make because we always have to ask permission for money. We can't turn to the town and ask for it."

School leaders, she said, are sometimes forced to come up with temporary fixes rather than permanent solutions.

RIDE spokeswoman Meg Geoghegan said the department agrees that more funding is needed for English language learners, noting that state Sen. Ryan Pearson is expected to release his committee's recommendations on changes to the formula next week.

Capellan said Friday that Infante-Green will ask that Central Falls get the additional $1 million, adding that the commissioner is committed to Central Falls.

lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823