Ashburnham Westminster Joint Town Meeting

Ashburnham is pushed to boost school spending despite rejection of override By Paula J. Owen, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF WESTMINSTER — Selectmen from Westminster and Ashburnham will meet Monday night to discuss the July 23 districtwide town meeting scheduled by the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee in a bid to get more school money from Ashburnham.  Selectmen will also pick a moderator for the town meeting.  The joint selectmen's meeting is open to the public and will take place in room 205 of Westminster Town Hall at 6:30 p.m.  The school committee has not exercised its legal option to hold such a meeting in a decade, according to Superintendent Ralph E. Hicks.  "The Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee has the legal right to call a joint town meeting," Mr. Hicks said. "We're following state law that says when we don't have an agreed upon budget figure after two town meetings we have a right to have one last attempt to get the money."  In a special election two weeks ago, Ashburnham voters rejected a $177,000 Proposition 2-1/2 tax cap override request, 763-527, that would have permanently increased taxes another 31 cents per $1,000 in home valuation to spare the jobs of three full-time teachers and a half-time teaching position at the high school.  Westminster was able to fund its full assessment without seeking an override.  However, Mr. Hicks said a total of $386,000 in cuts will have to be made to the schools after reducing Westminster's contribution proportionately if the $177,000 from Ashburnham isn't approved at the districtwide meeting.  "Class size is a big issue," Mr. Hicks said. "We're trying to keep them reasonable. It is just a never-ending battle. We have 15 less teachers than we had in 2007 and haven't lost any students. It is just a slow erosion of teaching staff, and the school committee and I decided we can't tolerate that anymore. That is why we're asking folks to come to this regional meeting."  No quorum is required at the July 23 meeting, to begin at 7 p.m. at Oakmont Regional High School, 9 Oakmont Drive. A simple majority of all the voters who show up from both towns is needed for the measure to pass.  School committee members and a parents' group are working to let residents know about it, Mr. Hicks said.  "Once we pass on money, it is gone forever and we feel we want a pretty efficient school district and are attempting to stay where we are and not slide back," Mr. Hicks said.  Ashburnham Town Administrator Douglas C. Briggs, a former Rutland selectman for years who also worked as town administrator in Ashby, said it is the first time he has seen a school committee call a districtwide meeting after an override request failed.  "The question is, why are they doing this," Mr. Briggs said.  Through most of budget deliberations for the new fiscal year, which began July 1, the School Committee said it was looking from Ashburnham for a 2.5 percent increase, plus extra based on new growth, over last year's assessment.  "We gave that to them," he said. "Then they came back and said, 'You know what? That's not enough. We need more.' We told them they would need to go for an override and if they got it, God bless them. If you don't, you'll have to make the cuts needed."  He said he questions if the $177,000 is really needed. The school committee approved taking $550,000 from the $1.5 million available in its excess and deficiency account to help offset the budget, he said. Additionally, he said, the district is anticipating another $600,000 to replenish its excess and deficiency account from money left over from the last fiscal cycle.  "They are anticipating a windfall of $600,000," Mr. Briggs said. "On the town-side, they are coming at us for $177,000 that will be coming out of town services."  But, Mr. Hicks said, excess and deficiency money is needed for emergencies throughout the school year, and the district is allowed by law to maintain 5 percent of its budget in the account.  "Any community or school district needs a decent amount of E&D to take care of any emergencies and money to carry into the next year," Mr. Hicks said. "We don't have the luxury of going back to the town in the middle of the year if something happens."  As for voters, some in both towns are agitated about the school district's forcing the matter after the override was voted down.  At a selectmen's meeting in Westminster last week, Westminster resident Keith J. Harding, who serves on the Capital Planning Committee, said he thinks it is unfair to voters, and such actions breed distrust in local government.  "This is the kind of stuff that really irritates voters," Mr. Harding said. "Ashburnham followed the rules and had an override vote that didn't pass. Now they want to come back in the middle of the summer on July 23 for a special town meeting and have voters look at this?"  He said it makes voters feel their vote doesn't count.  "How many times do they have to say no?" Mr. Harding asked. "When does somebody listen? It is a one-way street stacked against the voter."  Westminster Chairman Wayne R. Walker said he agreed 100 percent.  "But we're in a regional district and they have this option and they are exercising it," Mr. Walker said. "We have to follow it."  Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG.  Order the Telegram & Gazette, delivered daily to your home or office! www.telegram.com/homedelivery Copyright 2013 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.