Guest Column: Cheshire Override Will Fund Schools

By Paul ButlerGuest Columnist
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The budget for the coming school year for the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District hangs in the balance as the communities await the results of the Proposition 2 1/2 override vote in the town of Cheshire.

As the date for the vote approaches, I felt the need to respond to a letter written to iBerkshires by Cheshire resident Gary Trudeau that was published on July 30, 2015. During the Cheshire town meeting the school budget for fiscal year 2016 was approved by an overwhelming majority of the voting residents present. It was stated at that meeting by the Cheshire select board that the budget passage was contingent on passage of a Prop 2 1/2 override vote. That override vote failed by a significant margin.

However, only 18 percent of Cheshire's voters turned out for that vote and of those who did more than two-thirds were over the age of 51.

So what are we to make of this? Why did the budget pass so strongly while the override failed? Did the voters simply say they wanted to pass the school budget but not provide added funding to pay for it? Was it voter apathy? Or was it that voters just did not adequately understand that the vote for the override was needed in order to pass and fund the budget?  

Due to all of these questions, the School Committee requested that the town hold a second override vote. The town approved that request and the second vote will take place on Aug. 5.

In his letter, Mr. Trudeau makes several assertions and accusations that just need to be responded to. But first it is important to understand just how the school budget is funded.

Roughly two-thirds of the school budget for the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District is funded through Massachusetts Chapter 70 state aid to school districts. A small portion is made up of district revenues such as school-choice funds, fees and gate receipts. The balance is paid for through assessments to the two member towns that make up the district, Adams and Cheshire.  

For the past several years Chapter 70 funding has been stagnant. It was flat in FY2010, down 6 percent in FY2011, flat in 2012, up 2.2 percent in FY13, up just .4 percent in each of FY2014 and '15 and is projected to increase just .3 percent for the coming 2016 fiscal year. That .3 percent translates to just about $27,000. In case you are feeling good about that increase, our line item for health insurance increased 15 percent, or roughly $395,000, nearly 15 times the amount of Chapter 70 increase. This increase in insurance is completely beyond our control and is only one of many line items that have increased.  Others include salaries, utilities, other insurances, and others.  

It is also important to note that despite these increases, the overall school budget as amended and presented is up just 2.7 percent. However, since Chapter 70 is up only a fraction the increases in the form of assessments to the towns are increasing. The assessment to Adams is up 5.3 percent while Cheshire is up 3.6 percent, or roughly $89,000 over last year.

But since Cheshire is so close to its Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit they are seeking an override vote to cover this increase. Without the override vote, Cheshire cannot fund this increase and will also result in the share for Adams to be reduced as well. This will cause the school budget to be cut an additional $360,000 from the budget that was passed which already had cuts to staff and programming.

The assertion by Mr. Trudeau that somehow the school budget is overfunded and out of control is absolutely false. In fact, we have been working year after year with the towns to adequately fund education while keeping increases in assessments at reasonable levels. Quite honestly, this has not been easy and has come at a cost to the students who attend our schools. Aside from the debt exclusion that voters approved to pay for the high school project, the school budget has been increasing in the 1 1/2 to 3 percent range for several years. This is, in fact, the first time that the district has come to the voters seeking an override to pay for education.  

Mr. Trudeau also points to the fact that we spend over what the state considers minimum. That is true, we do. However the minimum spending is based on an out-of-date formula that just doesn't take into account the actual costs of running schools, such as insurance, special education placement, unfunded federal and state mandates, transportation costs that have been underfunded by the state for years, and so on. Schools simply could not educate students adequately using the minimum formula and as the name implies, that figure is the minimum amount that towns must spend, not what they should spend.  


When compared to schools around the commonwealth, Adams-Cheshire is one of the lowest over minimum spending of all schools.  

In his letter, Mr. Trudeau makes certain statements regarding salaries and that one went up 278 percent. If that were a teacher making $50,000 they would jump to $139,000. I really don't think this is the case. The trouble with relying on going to state websites is that you often cannot correctly understand the data as presented. I can tell you no one would get that kind of increase. Sometimes a pay source changes from grant funded to district funded, which is confusing or perhaps someone just received a stipend for a new duty. It is also possible that someone was a new hire late last year so their new salary reflecting a full year is skewed.

At this writing, I could not confirm this information but I can tell you it is just plain not true. All of our union bargaining units received between 1 /2 to 2 percent increased during the last negotiation session.

There have been some years in which no increase was granted not only to teachers but administration as well.  

During the last negotiation session, all employees agreed to pay 40 percent of the cost of their health insurance if they elect a POS of PPO plan and 25 percent if they are on HMO.  

As a result many are taking home less in their pay than before. They have sacrificed in order to help maintain staff and programs so dear to them throughout the district. For all they do: thank you!

Mr. Trudeau also makes comment on the attitude of the School Committee and administration. I have never met Mr. Trudeau, have never seen him at a School Committee meeting where he could freely ask questions. He has not met with the superintendent, the business manager, or principals to my knowledge. I nor any other School Committee member that I know of has received a phone call from him. It is amazing that he can determine attitudes of people without ever having met them.  Is it just easier for him to post rants on websites than to come and confront what he perceives as a problem?   

Well the real problem is this: Our schools are in trouble. As demonstrated by the Cheshire select board, the tax rate in Cheshire is amongst the lowest in the county and the average tax bill is also low. Per capita income in the same community is in the upper tier of towns. And yet per-pupil spending in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District is the lowest of any district in the county and amongst the lowest in the state. At approximately $12,700, we spend roughly $1,600 less than the state average per student. BArT spends almost $1,000 more per student and McCann spends nearly $20,000 each.

And yet somehow the finger is always pointed at your local public school. While we all agree that simply pouring money at any problem will not fix it, I will say that you cannot purchase a good education with a lower school budget. You cannot expect the highest results with the lowest investment.  

Underfunding schools will not only hurt the students, it will also affect local property values and will limit our ability to attract new families to the area. No one wants to pay more taxes. However, this override will add about 30 cents to the tax rate in Cheshire. That means that if you have a house valued at $200,000 the increase will be about $60 per year; a bit over a dollar a week.

What we all need to take to heart is that the schools do not belong to the School Committee. They do not belong to the superintendent or the principals. They do not belong to the teachers or the select boards. The schools belong to the taxpayers of the towns. They are your schools and they are there for the benefit of all of the children in the community. The voters of Cheshire will have their say on Aug. 5. Ultimately the towns will get the schools that they are willing to pay for. On behalf of the entire School Committee and the hard-working staff in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District, I do urge you to vote yes. Thank you. 

Paul K. Butler is chairman of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District.


Tags: ACRSD,   override,   school budget,   

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Hoosac Valley High School to Stage 'Suessical'

CHESHIRE, Mass. — Hoosac Valley High School will showcase their rendition of "Suessical," a musical based on the tales of Dr. Seuss by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
 
The performances are scheduled for Friday, March 15 at 7 pm, and Saturday, March 16 at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online via the provided link. Prices are $8 for students and $10 for adults.
 
Directed by Rebecca Koczela and Amanda Watroba, the production features around 50 students participating as actors, pit band musicians, and backstage and tech crews. Notably, this year's cast includes several middle school students who have joined the high school production, marking their first experience performing on stage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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