Dr. David Hopson
As the administrative team continues working on developing the budget for the 2013-2014 school year (Fiscal Year 2014) the many differences between regional school districts and school districts that are part of just one city become apparent once again. While the differences are many, two striking differences at this time are in timing and overall fiscal parameters.
Timing this year is particularly problematic for regional school districts because our budgets have to be presented to our member towns well before the first annual town meeting. What this means, every year, is that regional school districts must develop their budget in the fall to have them ready for review by school committees in early winter so that a public hearing and budget adoption can happen in late winter or early spring. This is difficult on two fronts. First, we’re developing a budget well before we’ve completed even a half year of actual expenditures for the current year and we’re making estimates on utility and other costs nearly a year before we actually incur them. Second, creating a budget this early means that there are no estimates of actual revenue in difficult years such as this one. This is because the first estimate of state revenue is with the Governor’s House I budget that comes out at the end of January and the actual House and Senate Versions of the budget aren’t released until April and May. In a year like this, where we’re already hearing of 9C midyear reductions in state funding due to the state taking in significantly less tax revenue than predicted, there really is no accurate way to predict what the revenue for the following year will be, much less what the potential shortfall in the current year’s funding may be. On top of these revenue questions is what will happen at the federal level with funding for education if sequestration occurs because our elected officials can’t develop a compromise that will avert the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’. Timing for city school districts is much better because they can put off these decisions until late spring or even early summer after the revenue figures are more accurately determined.
The other difference between regional and single-city school budgets is the entity that sets the fiscal parameters of the budget. Regional School Committees essentially act as the decision body for a “municipality.” Thus, the school committee has the ability to determine the budget for the school district that is then subject to ratification by the member towns at annual town meetings. While town officials may suggest fiscal parameters and share their town financial standings, town officials don’t set the school budget other than recommending a yes or no vote at annual town meetings. It is sole responsibility of the school committee to set the final budget and the responsibility of town residents as voters at a town meeting to approve or not approve the final school district budget. This is very different from cities where the city officials (usually the mayor and city council) have the final say on the budget rather than the voters in a citywide election. This often leads to some friction between towns and regional school committees, particularly for finance committee members. This is to be expected as the role of town finance committees is to primarily consider the overall finances of the town while the role of the school committee members is to represent the best interests of the students in the district. An overall benefit to the regional school model is that every individual in a town gets a say in the school budget should they opt to attend town meetings, certainly a very democratic method albeit much more difficult than letting some other elected official make the decision for the voters.
As a reminder, the Gateway Regional School District has been fortunate to have an educational foundation established to provide additional opportunities to students in the district. To have a positive impact on student opportunities, the Gateway Education Foundation needs funding and a great opportunity to donate to the foundation is occurring on 12-12-12 via the “Valley Gives Day”. You may donate for this drive by going to the foundation’s website at http://gatewayeducationfoundation.yolasite.com and using a credit or debit card to make your tax-deductible donation.
