Gansett budget saga could reach conclusion with joint meeting

Andres Caamano Senior News Editor/NIE Director Could the brouhaha over the Narragansett Regional School District budget finally come to a conclusion with Thursday night’s joint town meeting for Phillipston and Templeton? For Narragansett officials, the goal in recent months has been to get both towns to approve their respective assessments for the district’s fiscal year 2014 budget. “We’ve done a good job of getting the accurate information out, as this is a hard issue for folks,” said Narragansett Superintendent Ruth Miller. “On what could be cut, that information has not always been based on fact, and it’s difficult for folks to understand the issue at hand, and I think the School Committee has done a good job (getting the word out).” Ranging from sending messages via Facebook, organizing meetings, sitting in on Finance Committee meetings, having the issue taken up during School Committee meetings and being “on a conference call in Phillipston Monday night,” the superintendent pointed out just how varied the district’s effort has been in spreading the word throughout the two towns. Nonetheless, part of that challenge has been made more complicated by the ever-changing state budget numbers that never seem to sit still. “Here’s where the confusion kicked in. The joint committee of the state set the budget, and we didn’t get the numbers until July,” said Miller. “We based our numbers on the governor’s numbers.” The governor’s plan, the superintendent noted, had sought to reward communities that regularly paid more than their minimum contribution, such as Phillipston, while also pushing communities like Templeton — that regularly “paid less than they can afford, based on the formula from the state,” as noted by Miller — to pay more. But during the Legislative process, that plan was altered. “The House numbers took them away, and the Senate put them back in, and the joint committee took them away again,” said Miller. “So that’s why in July the minimum contributions changed for Phillipston and Templeton.” In one minute, Phillipston saw a reduction of $17,000 in its minimum contribution requirement from the state, while Templeton was to be asked to kick in an additional $65,000 — only for those adjustments to not be part of the final funding requirements. With the numbers seemingly changing at every turn, the state finds itself once again potentially set to step in and oversee a local regional school district’s finances, if an approved ’Gansett budget is not adopted by Dec. 1. It was just during the last school year when a similar inability to come to terms on a budget played out for the Quabbin Regional School District, and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was forced to run that district under so-called “1/12” monthly budgets. Even with such a recent and nearby example of a district under state fiscal control, Miller wasn’t sure joint town meeting voters would let it play a significant role in their vote. “I would hope people make their decisions on what the kids in this district need,” she said. “I would hope that’s how they express their vote Thursday night.” And if Templeton municipal officials are banking on the state to step in as a means to provide financial relief for the town, Miller is skeptical about such an approach. “If the Department of Ed takes over, Templeton (municipal government) has to really look how they need to operate with less money, as the DOE has never operated a (district budget under interim ‘1/12’ control) with less than what they had operated under the previous year,” she said. “I’m surprised they haven’t yet made some adjustments, but that’s their problem ... mine is to worry about the school district.” The biggest problem for Narragansett, though, is the yawning gap between what Templeton voters have so far approved for the school district — $4,430,615 at the May 15 town meeting — compared to the latest assessment for the town of $4,981,074, a difference of $550,459. More than three months have passed since that town meeting, with multiple attempts at getting the school budget passed, and the prospect of approving such a significant jump Thursday night — more than 11 percent of the total assessment number — would seem slim. Even with almost $9.7 million in Chapter 70 state education aid to cover slightly more than half of the district’s $18.5 million budget (a 1.9 percent increase over last year’s level-funded budget), the district was forced into coordinating a joint town meeting solely on the actions of Templeton voters. “We had a no vote (from Templeton), so the school committee had to recertify the budget, and the towns had 45 days to respond,” said Miller. “Phillipston actually passed everything, so they didn’t need to respond. Templeton needed to, as they voted no, and that’s what sending us to a joint town meeting.” Considering how long this saga has played out, and how large the budget disparity stands, it’s hardly a surprise that an earlier effort to pass an $850,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override — with $691,000 being requested in Templeton — crashed and burned at the ballot box by a 1,117-739 count in June. Miller, though, nonetheless talked positively about the district’s prospects entering joint town meeting, to get the school budget finally approved. Previously, the school committee had placed the certified budget on the warrant article, to which Miller explained, “I am going to recommend that the school committee then vote to amend that motion, and read the lower number.” That “lower number” is largely a result of new state funding and grants. In presenting the change, Miller said, “we will then attempt to explain this to the community, which is very confused, and I don’t blame them.” With that additional revenue, she cited it will then allow the district to “apply (those funds) to the budget to reduce the burdens on both towns.” If the school district budget isn’t approved at the joint meeting, Miller forewarned significant cuts would be around the corner. “We already cut $300,000 to get to that number, but if it doesn’t pass, I have already proposed some other cuts,” she said. “We would have to anticipate cutting $350,000 in the budget for services for kids,” which would be represented by the district’s loss of six teachers, an elementary adjustment counselor, to go with a range of programs and other activities slashed. (Andres Caamano is the Senior News Editor/NIE Director at The Gardner News. He can be reached at acaamano@thegardnernews.com.)