Adams Finance Committee Backs Adams-Cheshire Budget

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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The Finance Committee recommended all aspects of the town budget except for the school district, voting not to recommend the Selectmen's proposed lower assessment.

ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance Committee rejected the school budget laid out by the Selectmen by one vote on Monday.

The committee voted to recommend all items in the fiscal 2016 budget except from the Adams Cheshire Regional School District budget.

The majority of the committee did not favor the Selectmen's original $4.7 million allocation that would keep the town budget under the levy capacity.

The vote was 5-6, with the majority voting not to recommend.

The School Committee approved a $19.4 million budget that would request Adams to pay $5,143,382 instead of the $4.7 million the Selectmen had allocated in the total budget voted on March 18. This would leave a nearly $360,000 gap the town would have to find in the municipal budget or raise in taxes through a Proposition 2 1/2 override.

Superintendent Kristen Gordon said the School Committee's budget would keep the district level at this year’s budget and not force the district to cut 28 positions. She said if the additional funds are not found the district will be put in a "vulnerable" position.

Committee member Paul Demastrie, however, pointed to the additional hiring of two new administrative positions in the district; a curriculum coordinator and a technology director. He said he was "flabbergasted" that the administration would sacrifice teachers and aids for more administration.

Gordon said the additional positions were not completely her choice, but recommendations from the Department of Education, which advocated for cutting teaching staff to accommodate the nearly $120,000 in positions.

She said not gaining these two positions would push the district to a level four designation, which represents the state's most struggling schools.

"I have lost two months of sleep over letting teacher go," Gordon said. "This is the district that I grew up in and this is the district that raised me, but when I have the Department of Education telling me that they will drop us to a level 4 … I had to make the best decision that I could and laying off any teacher or any para isn't hurting anyone more than it is hurting me right now."

Gordon said if the district drops to a level 4, it will be nearly impossible to combine with any other districts and will lower its attractiveness. She said she would rather continue acting as the curriculum coordinator with the other administrators, but that is no longer an option.

Gordon added that without funding for new textbooks and material, a curriculum coordinator is necessary. She said the district has spent nothing on textbooks for the past decade and only received new ones through grants.

"Our textbooks are so ancient my name is still in a couple of them up there," she said. "You will see teachers working until 7 at night making their own curriculum. It's not that the teachers are doing a bad job. We don't have the materials other districts have."

Gordon said the district has already cut administration to a minimum over the years. She said there is now one   superintendent, one special education director, one business manager, one principal for each school, and a vice principal at Hoosac Valley. 

"There literally is not any more to cut. Do you want me to cut the Hoosac principal, the special ed director, or the business manager?" Gordon said. "That is really what we are down to … we have six or seven in the district, and if we had more we would be looking at it for sure."

She said administrative assistance is also limited to a point where the business manager is also the maintenance manager, which she said is unheard of.

She did say the district is looking for other options and may be able to combine some business services with the town or other districts.

Committee member Sandra Kleiner asked if the district looked at cutting sports programs and other extracurricular activities.

Gordon said the district did look at the option, but it has become such a small line item because now the school only funds the head coach and transportation. Any assistant coaches, uniforms, or additional equipment comes from the booster clubs.

School Committee member Paul Butler added that cutting extracurricular activities would cut the number of kids interested in going to Hoosac Valley and would not be fair to the students.

"The kids that are typically at the top of the class are almost always in involved in activities such as sports, art, or band and not just academic kids," Butler said. "They are well-rounded kids and they are very successful in college.  

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said any additional cuts would on the town's side to accommodate the budget gap would be six to seven staff positions. He said in a town budget that only increased 1.2 percent and stayed under the levy capacity, additional cuts would be difficult as would supplying the school with more money in an all-around trimmed budget.

He said the cuts would not address the structural deficit the town has because its revenues do not meet up with its expenses so the town and school will be in the same position next year.

The Finance Committee was well-attended.

School Committee Chairwoman Darlene Rodowicz advocated for redistributing how much is spent toward education because it is a "deficit the community owns." She also said "the 2 1/2 override should not always fall on the district's back."

"If there is no more pie to give to the district and you want to put us under a 2 1/2 override … as an elected servant I feel very disheartened that every year it is always the school vs the town," Rodowicz said. "The school is your town."

Finance Committee member Leon Parrott said he felt not figuring out a way to help the district will ultimately hurt the town because people will not bring their families to a district with ailing schools. He said that where he works, not one executive it has have hired in 10 years has decided to live in Adams.

"The school district is a prime thing … and I believe we have an obligation to take care of our students and do the best we can," Parrott said. "I am sure we can find a way to come up with the amount of money we are looking for here tonight."

Other Finance Committee members shared Parrott's sentiment and advocated for reopening the budget and discussing other options.

As of now the Adams-Cheshire budget, as approved by the Selectmen, will go to town meeting without the Finance Committee's recommendation. The committee could add a warrant article that would ask for an override providing the district with the additional $360,000.

Mazzucco said if the Selectmen's budget is approved at town meeting, it will return to the School Committee for re-evaluation because it is not the budget the School Committee approved. The School Committee can change its budget to the Selectmen's number or send back the same budget.

If the vote fails again, then the budget goes to a districtwide vote.

This can all change depending on how Cheshire votes on its part of the district budget.

Finance Committee Chairman Timothy Burdick said the Selectmen could still reopen the budget, however, this becomes increasingly difficult as the town meeting date in late June approaches.


Tags: ACRSD,   Finance Committee,   fiscal 2016,   school budget,   

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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