WESTFIELD – State officials will give parents, educators, and other community members an opportunity to sound off about how much money they believe it takes to run a school district at a public hearing tomorrow.
Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Northampton High School auditorium, the state Foundation Budget Review Committee will hold the third in a series of public hearings across the state. The first hearing was in Danvers, and the second was in Somerset
The Commonwealth’s “Foundation Budget” formula dictates each town and city’s annual share of public school costs and, at the conclusion of the six-hearing series, a recommendation will be issued by the end of June. The state created the Foundation Budget Review Committee last year to review to make recommendations for possible changes in process.
In the hilltowns, Derrick Mason, co-moderator of the Gateway Towns Advisory Committee (GTAC), is encouraging local town finance committees, school administrators, school mommittee members and concerned taxpayers to attend and participate in this hearing for several reasons.
“School budgets consume the majority of real estate tax dollars for most towns and cities in western Mass.,” stated Mason. “The Foundation Budget formula has not been reviewed since the early 1990s and many of our region’s economic conditions, local tax bases and school enrollments have declined dramatically in the past twenty years.”
Huntington Finance Committee Chair and GTAC Co-Moderator Darlene McVeigh is also encouraging residents of the current member towns of the Gateway Regional School District – Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Russell and, as of now, Worthington – to attend tomorro meeting.
“(Chapter 70) was put in place in ’93, I believe and it has never been properly revisited, so the formula has never really been adequated revised,” said McVeigh. “In addition to town officials, I think people need to get educated on this, as taxpayers and parents, at least to understand what the basic issues are.”
McVeigh cites unfunded mandates as one of the biggest issues with the formula as it currently stands.
“It is a big issue for a lot of small rural communities. We need to take advantage of these hearings and hear what other communities have to say, because we’re all facing similar issues,” she said.
Mason added that reworking and simplifying the state’s Chapter 70 formula would go a long way for Beacon Hill to create a sense of trust with rural Bay Staters.
“Why do unfunded mandates – special education and other things – keep multiplying and why do they keep pulling money out of local aid for schools and transportation that they are supposed to be guaranteeing every year?” he asked. “It’s becoming a serious issue for rural communities.”
More information on the Foundation Budget Review Commission is available online at www.mma.org/foundation.
