School budget vote triggers district-wide meeting for Templeton and Phillipston
By Ken Cleveland / Correspondent
Posted at 1:08 PM
Updated at 1:08 PM
TEMPLETON — The Narragansett Regional School Committee stuck with its
number, and now it will be up to the voters in both Phillipston and
Templeton on Aug. 21 to decide if they like it as well.
The school board Wednesday night, July 24, voted a $6.9 million assessment for Templeton, a figure the committee had earlier approved, a reduction from its $7.4 million request for fiscal 2020 at the annual Town Meeting.
Templeton voters at a special Town Meeting on July 18 approved a $6.4 million assessment figure, so the School Committee vote pushes the towns into a district-wide meeting, in which voters from both communities gather to decide the school district’s budget.
If the School Committee and meeting figures match, the process stops. If they disagree, there could be additional district-wide meetings and possibly budget adjustments until they do.
In case the higher school number is approved, Templeton is working on a plan to reduce municipal spending to make up the difference since increasing one area of the budget requires reducing another. Selectmen have ruled out an override since Templeton voters rejected that in the annual election, though the figure at issue has now dropped. But they had pointed to the 500-voter margin as evidence there was no appetite for an override.
Phillipston had voted an override for its portion of the original budget so there is funding in that town, though reductions in the school assessment for Templeton also reduces Phillipston’s assessment.
The school budget uses additional school funds to help in keeping the schools in the two towns operating as they did last year. To close budget gaps, the board had twice come up with configurations for the schools that could work within more limited funding but triggered opposition from parents.
An initial plan had moved most elementary classes to the new Templeton Center School and the Phillipston Memorial School used for pre-K and kindergarten, with the reductions in staff also requiring larger class sizes. A second plan shifted students back to the original arrangement except for School Choice students, who would be in Phillipston.
The current plan resets the configuration to the way it was last year but uses funds such as School Choice revenue, which could help get the district through the coming year if the proposed budget is passed but could require additional revenue next year.
The special districtwide meeting will be held Aug. 21 at 7
p.m. at the Narragansett Regional High School and be open to voters in
both Phillipston and Templeton. It will be run by the district, with a
moderator to be chosen by a joint meeting of the boards of selectmen in
the two towns acting together.
Balancing town and school needs
“The way to get through this is to make cuts on both sides,” Templeton selectmen Chairman Michael Currie said Thursday, July 25. Rather than one side being a winner, he said, they should “meet in the middle.”
Noting that cuts mean staff reductions, he said the town was already experiencing reduced police and fire staffing and senior services were being reduced. Selectmen had opted to start making cuts, including not filling open positions, rather than potentially having to make even deeper cuts if they came late in the year.
“If we can just get past the current budget crisis,” Currie said, the towns could get into planning for the next fiscal year and “talk about our budget constructively,” urging cooperative meetings.
He supported the idea of school board members and selectmen meeting to discuss the issues and work together for a solution.
Currie noted School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Hughes’ acknowledging the budget issues — and that district meetings could result in a budget number that was the same, higher or lower — and districtwide meetings could continue, with the school board planning for different scenarios.
But Templeton has budget limits, he noted, burdened by heavy
debt from needed infrastructure improvements in recent years, including
the new school, police station, pump station and water tower. And he
said the schools have other revenue problems that include not getting
promised transportation funding and the formula used for state aid.
Currie also stressed that the town being served by state police during some periods, with likely delays in response times, was not something he wanted to see, noting the period in 2014, shortly after he moved to Templeton, when the town shut down for about six weeks.
As a parent, he said, he is “alongside the other parents” in not wanting large class sizes. But as a selectman who formerly served on the Advisory Committee, Currie knows the numbers have to balance.
“We have to do our best to stay within our means,” Currie said.
The school board Wednesday night, July 24, voted a $6.9 million assessment for Templeton, a figure the committee had earlier approved, a reduction from its $7.4 million request for fiscal 2020 at the annual Town Meeting.
Templeton voters at a special Town Meeting on July 18 approved a $6.4 million assessment figure, so the School Committee vote pushes the towns into a district-wide meeting, in which voters from both communities gather to decide the school district’s budget.
If the School Committee and meeting figures match, the process stops. If they disagree, there could be additional district-wide meetings and possibly budget adjustments until they do.
In case the higher school number is approved, Templeton is working on a plan to reduce municipal spending to make up the difference since increasing one area of the budget requires reducing another. Selectmen have ruled out an override since Templeton voters rejected that in the annual election, though the figure at issue has now dropped. But they had pointed to the 500-voter margin as evidence there was no appetite for an override.
Phillipston had voted an override for its portion of the original budget so there is funding in that town, though reductions in the school assessment for Templeton also reduces Phillipston’s assessment.
The school budget uses additional school funds to help in keeping the schools in the two towns operating as they did last year. To close budget gaps, the board had twice come up with configurations for the schools that could work within more limited funding but triggered opposition from parents.
An initial plan had moved most elementary classes to the new Templeton Center School and the Phillipston Memorial School used for pre-K and kindergarten, with the reductions in staff also requiring larger class sizes. A second plan shifted students back to the original arrangement except for School Choice students, who would be in Phillipston.
The current plan resets the configuration to the way it was last year but uses funds such as School Choice revenue, which could help get the district through the coming year if the proposed budget is passed but could require additional revenue next year.
Balancing town and school needs
“The way to get through this is to make cuts on both sides,” Templeton selectmen Chairman Michael Currie said Thursday, July 25. Rather than one side being a winner, he said, they should “meet in the middle.”
Noting that cuts mean staff reductions, he said the town was already experiencing reduced police and fire staffing and senior services were being reduced. Selectmen had opted to start making cuts, including not filling open positions, rather than potentially having to make even deeper cuts if they came late in the year.
“If we can just get past the current budget crisis,” Currie said, the towns could get into planning for the next fiscal year and “talk about our budget constructively,” urging cooperative meetings.
He supported the idea of school board members and selectmen meeting to discuss the issues and work together for a solution.
Currie noted School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Hughes’ acknowledging the budget issues — and that district meetings could result in a budget number that was the same, higher or lower — and districtwide meetings could continue, with the school board planning for different scenarios.
Currie also stressed that the town being served by state police during some periods, with likely delays in response times, was not something he wanted to see, noting the period in 2014, shortly after he moved to Templeton, when the town shut down for about six weeks.
As a parent, he said, he is “alongside the other parents” in not wanting large class sizes. But as a selectman who formerly served on the Advisory Committee, Currie knows the numbers have to balance.
“We have to do our best to stay within our means,” Currie said.
$11,224,821.00 was last years salaries for the NRSD. That was for 202 employees and 1424 students (fy19)
ReplyDeleteWhat type of a difference would having 247 less children to teach mean to the staffing levels? The yearly costs increases for raises, healthcare, retirement. As a sheer percentage it would be over 30 (15%) employees. Hell, 10% would save us over $1.2 million dollars.
Why are we allowing this?
At 16% of the Budget for NRSD why does Phillipstons vote matter........majority rules in a democracy. I Jest as were is any real democracy taking place anymore...........
ReplyDelete