Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump released a report on regional schools that makes for very interesting reading. Based upon significant research done by her office, the report paints a picture of an educational system that is under-funded by the state, impacts inequities between regional and non-regional districts, and doesn’t live up to past promises. These findings would not surprise anyone in our district who has followed the travails of the school’s budget issues over the last decade and mirrors much of what the school committee has been trying to point out over this same time.
Thankfully the report also makes several recommendations for the state legislature and executive branch to consider. While these include many important items, three of them have particular relevance to Gateway. They include funding regional transportation reimbursement at 100%, or at least at a consistent rate from year to year; having the Massachusetts School Building Authority (the MSBA) develop a reasonable expectation for having to pay the state back when schools are closed and consolidated; and developing a method of school assessments that are more consistent over time (and that the DESE should allow a ‘pilot’ of such a program).
As we all know, regional transportation reimbursement, despite being 100% reimbursable by law, has rarely been fully reimbursed. While the legislature often tries to increase funding each year, the reality is that funding amounts are like a yo-yo and vary widely over time making it nearly impossible to determine the amount districts will get in time for effective planning. We also know, having had to ‘pay back’ MSBA for closing elementary schools, that this mechanism makes it very difficult for regions to consolidate schools and carry forward significant savings. Given the declining enrollments across almost all of Central and Western Massachusetts, the MSBA refuses to forgive districts financially for closing schools, even if those schools are repurposed for town use (i.e., Blandford Elementary is now Blandford’s town offices). We are all also aware that for Gateway, minor changes in student numbers attending the district from each town can lead to significant changes in town assessments. We’ve seen increases in some towns in the double digits while also seeing decreases just as large in other towns and we all understand this makes budgeting for educational expenses very difficult for some of our towns.
In the past, citizens and town officials have successfully petitioned the legislature for increased regional school transportation reimbursement. Given the Auditor’s report, I would suggest that town officials, citizens, and district employees band together and contact state officials to urge them to consider all of the recommendations of the report, concentrating our efforts on regional transportation reimbursement, MSBA forgiveness, and being allowed to model an assessment method over the next several years that levels out the swings in what every town pays. To that end, the school committee and administration will be providing some additional information that may help all of us to contact our legislators in an effective manner. Adding our voice to that of other regional schools, the State Auditor, and other towns regarding these issues can make a difference that will impact our ability to provide an exemplary education at a cost that more closely matches our resources as a small, rural, and regional school district.
