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• Quabbin school district wrestles with tight budget, shrinking enrollment

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Hubbardston residents Laura and Mike Foley talk wtih Davd Caviello, right, about the Quabbin Regional School District budget and possible school consolidation. Hubbardston Center School is one of the district's five elementary schools. Photo/Bradford L. Miner
• By Bradford L. Miner
  Correspondent

  
  Posted Jul. 4, 2016 at 7:26 PM
  
  

  BARRE – Too much space, ever fewer students and a $1.75 million increase in special needs out-of-district placements.

  It’s a perfect storm and a recipe for sleepless nights as the Quabbin Regional School District administration and school committee wrestle with cutting enough from the $34 million fiscal 2017 budget to gain approval of four of the five district towns.

  Longtime Superintendent Maureen M. Marshall is not optimistic about the immediate prospects, and for the past year a Consolidation Task Force of school board members and town appointees has been looking at closing from one to three of the district’s elementary schools.

  According to Department of Elementary and Secondary Education statistics, in 2005, 3,286 students were enrolled in the district, the high since 2000. The district had 2,395 students enrolled this year, 891 less than a decade ago, a 27 percent decrease.

  Quabbin is not the only Central Massachusetts school district that began the fiscal year Friday without an approved budget, operating at current spending levels on a monthly basis.

  Others on the list are Blackstone-Millville, Groton-Dunstable, Wachusett, and Quaboag, according to Jacqueline Reis of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

  At its June 23 meeting the Quabbin school committee instructed the administration to come up with $1 million in cuts that would be considered at the July 14 meeting.

  Cheryl Duval, Quabbin’s director of administrative services, said that was the deadline for establishing new assessments to be sent to the five towns for consideration at special town meetings.

  Mrs. Marshall is not confident about either the cuts in programs needed to reach that figure, or the outcome of the next round of voting.

  The Quabbin Regional School District includes Barre, Hubbardston, Hardwick, Oakham and New Braintree.

  “At the $1 million mark we should have Barre and Hubbardston on board with no problem. They’ve already approved 6½ and 6 percent increases at annual town meeting and the new assessments should match that commitment,” Mrs. Marshall said.

  The superintendent said the challenge would come in Hardwick, Oakham and New Braintree.

  “Even at $1 million in cuts, their assessments will still be in the 9, 10, and 11 percent range and those will be tough votes to get,” she said. “In all likelihood there will have to be Prop. 2½ override votes to reach these numbers.”

  The superintendent noted the votes could coincide with the September primary and the November general election, sparing the need for a special election.

  “We’re here because of an unprecedented increase in special education costs for out-of-district placements this year. That represents a 28 percent increase, $1.75 million for fiscal 2017. The balance of the budget is level-funded,” the superintendent said.

  Mrs. Marshall said because special education services are state-mandated as prescribed in an individualized education program the district has but one obligation: to pay for them.

  The superintendent explained the special education tab includes not only tutoring costs, but since the Weld administration, all costs associated with the IEP, including hospitalization.

  “Nor is this a one-time anomaly,” she added, “We’re responsible for these costs until the student moves from the district or reaches the age of 22.”

  Mrs. Marshall said she has spoken at length with legislators and administration officials and sees little if any help coming from the state.

  “Yes, the Foundation Review Commission admits that special education costs need to be addressed, but say the state has no resources to address the problem, already projecting a revenue shortfall this year.”

  The superintendent said Chapter 70 aid for schools has essentially been flat since the steady decline of enrollments across Central Massachusetts a decade ago.

  Mrs. Marshall said consolidating district services and programs, and closing elementary schools would be a financial boon to Quabbin, but a liability for the towns involved.

  “The district’s expense for these schools right now is $1.5 million to $1.8 million, an expense shifted to the towns. If they have no use for the buildings, then what difference does it make which pocket it comes out of; the taxpayers are still the ones paying for it,” she added.

  The superintendent said the consolidation task force has looked at closing Hubbardston, Hardwick and New Braintree elementary schools; moving Hubbardston to Barre, and Hardwick and New Braintree to Oakham; and then moving the 5th and 6th grades to Quabbin.

  “At this point our buildings are about 55 percent utilized,” she said.

  All five towns are participating in the governor’s Community Compact grant program that includes demographic studies. Mrs. Marshall said the forecast calls for no increase in the district’s school-age population for the next 25 years.

  “We’re not alone. The decline is generally true across Central Massachusetts and more severe the farther west you go.”

  Mrs. Marshall said the district will operate on a one-twelfth and 22 employees have been given layoff notices.

  Steve Labarre of Oakham, school board member and head of the Consolidation Task Force, said the panel of school board members and selectmen appointees from the five towns has looked at both revenue enhancement and school closing options.

  “We’ve had a good set of voices at the table looking at the enrollment and the buildings; understanding where the population lives; how they get to school. We’ve looked at ways to save money and ways to generate more revenue,” Mr. Labarre said.

  “Unfortunately revenue options are limited and the greatest savings would come from the closing of one, and possibly three elementary schools,” he added.

  Mr. Labarre said the panel was interested in the recommendations of the Collins Institute at UMass Boston, but feedback would be a year away at best.

  “In order for us to close the gap on next year’s budget, knowing full well the trouble we face this year, there has to be another answer. Closing a building before 2018 is highly unlikely,” he said.

  Mr. Labarre said the task force is divided on closing schools for both financial and philosophical reasons.

  “Say a town does vote to close its elementary school and lowers its assessment by $100,000, but spends $200,000 maintaining it. I can’t see anyone voting to cost their town an extra $100,000 a year,” the school board member said.

  He said the only way forward might come if the state were to provide the town funding to convert the building and along with several years’ worth of maintenance assistance.

  Mr. Labarre said he spoke with state Sen. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, who was unaware of any state programs that might help towns make the transition.

  “This is one question we’ve asked the Collins Institute group to take a look at,” he said.

  As for closing this year’s budget gap, Mr. Labarre said cutting specials would have dire consequences.

  “If you cut music this year, and those cuts stand, four years from now you won’t have a high school orchestra. It would be a death sentence for the music program, and it’s someplace I won’t go,” he said.

  Heather Bratko, a Hubbardston parent, said unless the district makes wise choices she and her husband will look beyond Quabbin when their son becomes school age, whether that means school-choice, charter school or private school.

  “The Quabbin district has been seeing rather mediocre test scores recently, and if the music, library and art programs are cut, as is currently being discussed, there isn't anything to keep us here,” she said.

  Mike Foley, another Hubbardston parent, said it was unwise for the administration to present Hubbardston voters at town meeting with an override request to meet the assessment without an explanation beyond special needs costs.’

  “We’ve lived here since 2005 and there’s almost a thousand fewer students in the district, yet each year they come to town meeting with a request for an increase. I’d like to hear an explanation, a justification before being presented with an override,” Mr. Foley said.

  A meeting of the Budget Subcommittee to discuss cuts will start at 6 p.m. July 11 in the Quabbin administration building, 872 South St. The full committee will meet to vote on those recommendations and set assessments for the five towns at 7 p.m. July 14 in the same location.