Gateway School Committee votes on FY19 budget with support from town officials. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – After months of joint budget meetings between the Gateway Regional School Committee and member town officials, a public hearing and vote on the FY19 budget showed progress has been made.
At the public hearing on March 14 and at the School Committee meeting which followed, several dozen members of the community, Gateway staff and town representatives participated in an informed discussion about a 1.9% increased budget, an alternative assessment method that would change the formula for each town’s share of the budget, and the possibilities of starting a full-day pre-school.
Superintendent David B. Hopson said at the public hearing that the administration and staff have worked “really hard” to keep the FY19 budget to a 1.94% increase. He said they had to cut a needed full-time shared secretarial replacement, but were able to increase days for the Pupil Services Director Kurt Garivaltis, which the district considers its top priority due to the increase in special needs students, as well as a literacy consultant/coach, also a priority.
Hopson explained that the district has not laid off staff since 2005, but as they retired, they were not replaced, resulting in 57 fewer staff members currently than in 2003. He also pointed out that since 2003, assessments to the towns have increased by $1.79 million, only slightly more than the loss of state aid of $1.75 million to the district since 2003.
The alternative assessment method for the towns was also discussed during both meetings. Currently, each town must pay an over-minimum assessment based on its share of students from the March 1 census each year. This can cause assessments to swing wildly for the towns due to small changes in the number of students. “Right now, it penalizes towns for having new kids,” Hopson said.
The alternative assessment method, which must be voted for by each of the six towns each year at the Annual Town Meetings, creates an equalized percentage assessment to each town equal to the percentage change of the budget, which would eliminate drastic swings. Hopson said this is the first time the state has allowed a school district to change one thing, the over-minimum assessment, without requiring the entire regional agreement be changed.
Chester Finance Committee member Andy Myers said the new assessment is a big advantage to assist in stabilizing planning for the towns as well as for Gateway. “We feel it’s a breakthrough,” Myers said.
“It really does need to be done, in my opinion,” said Derrick Mason, Finance Committee member of Russell, one of the towns hit hard by the increase in the student census last year. Ironically, this year the town has decreased its share of students, and would pay less with the old method.
“The work a lot of people have done this year makes it a palatable plan,” said Blandford Finance Committee member Eric McVey.
During the School Committee meeting that followed, town officials also pushed for the district to implement a full-day preschool program, preferably in the Russell Elementary School which will be vacant after Westfield students leave at the end of the year.
Myers said adding the full-day pre-school could help the loss of students to Gateway by attracting new families.
“I have serious concerns about having a standalone program in an empty school building,” Garivaltis said, explaining that there would not be staff to cover in case of an incident. “I think it’s a great idea. Why don’t we try it at one of our existing schools, that have infrastructure and staff in place,” he said.
“Chester is not an option for people dropping kids off on their way to work,” said Russell School Committee member Tara Balboni. She asked if down the line there might be a way to incorporate high school programming into the early childhood space.
“You could certify it into an Early Childhood Vocational Program. There are a lot of different options, it just doesn’t seem like we’re there yet,” Garivaltis said. He also said an additional $200,000 to $250,000 would be needed for staff costs.
“We have a lot of resources here. I would like to see a proposal for a full-day program and an estimate of costs,” said Huntington School Committee member Aaron Welch.
“In order to do it, you have to have a line item in the budget,” Hopson said. He said the problem with taking the money from the Excess and Deficiency line item, as some town officials had suggested, is that Business Manager Stephanie Fisk uses E&D to reduce assessments to the towns at the end of the year.
Fisk said they could offset the item with school choice money, which would not be impacted if the program does not go forward. “The School Committee can still vote on the 1.94% budget, and everybody’s happy,” Fisk said.
The School Committee then voted unanimously to approve the 1.94% budget, to set aside $280,000 from the revolving school choice funds, and to present the alternative assessment method to the towns for a vote at the Annual Town Meetings, beginning in May.
“For the first time in many years, school officials, the School Committee and town officials are all speaking to the same thing,” Hopson said about the public hearing and votes.
