Lanesborough FinCom Continues Discussion On School Funding

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Finance Committee discussed the future of the school system for nearly three hours on Tuesday. At the end, the board did not come to a conclusion or take a stance. 
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Whether or not the school should accept tuition and school-choice students is a decision made by the School Committee.
 
But the town's Finance Committee on Monday debated the issue anyway, wondering if it should ask the School Committee to shut down both options. Some members believe that will make the system less costly in the future; others that the additional students account for revenue the school wouldn't otherwise have.
 
Committee member Steve Wentworth outlined his support for taking in choice and tuition by comparing the practice to that of a manufacturing business. Wentworth said there is a "bucket of fixed cost" in running the school system and right now there is "excess capacity." By opening the seats that would otherwise be vacant to choice and tuition, the school is receiving extra revenue.
 
"You are going to eat these costs no matter what. When you have excess capacity, you can bring in additional volume," Wentworth said.
 
The School Committee opens school choice up in specific class levels when the rooms are not full. When a student choices into the school, the sending district pays $5,000 per student to the school. The School Committee says the seats are opened only when there is extra space in the classroom. That $5,000 is eyed as a way to offset the costs of running the school.
 
Finance Committee member Ray Jones, however, says instead of allowing students from other towns at a lower cost, the town should be charging a premium price. He said it is a supply and demand debate and with Lanesborough School and Mount Greylock Regional School topping the educational charts, others would pay more to send their children to them.
 
"If we had excess needs, what people do in business is charge a premium," Jones said. "If somebody wants to come to us, they should pay a premium ... We are the cream of the crop." 
 
Town Administrator Paul Sieloff, too, supports closing off tuition and choice because it provides a "risk" with little benefit. Once accepted as choice, the students stay with the district all the way through. A family could move into town and, with seats already taken up by choice, push the class size so large that additional staff is needed. Sieloff says the town pays $1 million in health insurance benefits every year for both current and retired staff, which is on top of the salaries. With less than a dozen students choicing into Lanesborough, the potential of needing to hire additional staff outweighs the annual benefit, he said. 
 
"The risk is so great and there is really so few we take in, I say don't risk it at all," Sieloff said. "It is not a one-year thing. These teachers are with us for 30-40 years. We are paying their health insurance."
 
Chairman Al Terranova challenged Sieloff and others against choice to prove that the town has had to hire additional teachers and that the cost is greater than the income generated. Jones said it is difficult to quantify it but he knows the risk is true.
 
Wentworth, however, said even with the risk, the annual income far exceeds that which can be cut from the system. He said the town of Richmond could have reduced staffing significantly by going to multi-grade classrooms but a study showed the town would lost $350,000 in choice money while only saving $300,000 from the reduction of staff.
 
"You can't cut your way out of it," Wentworth said.
 
In Lanesborough, less than 10 percent of the enrollment comes from choice and tuition but that accounts for an addition $200,000 a year in revenue. At Mount Greylock, the district receives some $750,000 a year from choice and tuition. Wentworth said there isn't a way to cut that much out of the budget each year by eliminating that revenue.
 
Meanwhile the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District has put forth a proposal to Lanesborough looking to fill its excess capacity at Hoosac Valley High School. The proposal would generate $1.7 million in income to that district and Wentworth says $1.7 million annually would not be spent on hiring additional staff. Adams-Cheshire has room in its existing classrooms to accept some 25 percent more. Wentworth said that doesn't mean 25 percent of the school is not being operated, but instead the whole school is being operated but only 75 percent of the classes are full.
 
"They have the same costs that everybody else has," Wentworth said of Adams-Cheshire's pitch. 
 
While Adams sees the tuition revenue as a boon for its operations, "I'm hearing the exact opposite argument down here in Lanesborough for three-quarters of a year," Wentworth said. "You can't say [accepting tuition students] is a good deal for Hoosac but a bad deal for Lanesborough."
 
Part of the argument against choice and tuition is that the rates are lower than the per-pupil cost, which is determined by the total spending divided by the number of students. 
 
Hanging over the head of those decisions is the impending renovation project at Mount Greylock Regional School. 
 
Jones says if there are that many empty seats to fill at the high school level, it shows that Lanesborough and Williamstown are about to build a school that is too large. The new high and middle school is being built for 535 students, which includes acceptance of choice and tuition students. That total is set by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is paying for much of the construction. At this point, the enrollment number has been set and can't be changed.
 
Committee member Ron Tinkham, who has long advocated against school choice, said tuitioning students elsewhere will alleviate the town's capital responsibility in building a new school and eliminate the town's payment for health care and retirement for teachers. 
 
"From a financial standpoint, we are basically going to be treated as we are currently treating New Ashford and Hancock [if Lanesborough opts to tuition students]," Tinkham said. "Those are real costs and ought to be considered."
 
Under the regional district agreement, Tinkham says Lanesborough doesn't have the ability to negotiate a high school tuition agreement with another town. That decision is also made by school committees and Elementary School Committee Chairwoman Regina DiLego said it would be foolish to negotiate an agreement to pay some $9,000 per student to go elsewhere when school choice would only cost the town $5,000. Families have the right to send students via school choice to districts that accept them. 
 
According to state law, the town needs to have a district in place as to where the students attend high school — a requirement smaller towns like Hancock do not need and so can tuition students wherever. A tuition agreement would be negotiated between school committees.
 
Also related to schools, Tinkham is pushing for changes to the proposed new cost-sharing agreement with Mount Greylock for capital expenses. Lanesborough requested the current agreement be reconsidered and a group of both Williamstown and Lanesborough residents have worked out a new proposal to increase fairness.
 
However, Tinkham says the new agreement, which projects to lower Lanesborough's share, didn't go far enough. He gathered a list of possible changes he heard from the Board of Selectmen on Monday and then on Tuesday he asked the Finance Committee to approve sending the list back to the Board of Selectmen — essentially supporting the Selectmen's efforts to push for additional considerations. His motion was defeated in a 2-2 vote, with Terranova being the tie-breaking vote.
 
His list includes changing the assessment values to include non-profits and payment in lieu of taxes programs, that way Williamstown is charged more because of Williams College and the Clark Art Institute; counting school-choice students at the high school level based on which elementary school accepted the students — Williamstown accepts more tuition and school choice than Lanesborough so this change would shift more burden to Williamstown — apply the changes to existing bonds; require tuition to have a capital component; and allow the town to keep 7th- and 8th-grade students in the elementary school.
 
Sieloff said including PILOTs and non-profits in the total town assessment and tracing choice students seemed like reasonable considerations and would later help when it comes to a vote on the building project. Sieloff said he wants one vote on the building project to pass because the deal is "fair" for Lanesborough residents.
 
Terranova told Tinkham that the district agreement and school choice are both things the Finance Committee has "no control over." He said the committee has spent hours talking about the school issues but it is out of its jurisdiction.
 
"I know there are people who even though we are moving beyond this are still fighting battles that are three months old," he said.
 
Terranova also called for a meeting with the Board of Selectmen because many of the issues brought up were said to be from that board, but there were no votes to show that.
 
"This committee does not make decisions on what guys say behind doors over a cup of coffee or a beer," Terranova said. "If people take votes and make decision, then we can deal with it."

Tags: ACRSD,   Finance Committee,   LES,   MGRHS,   school choice,   tuition,   

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Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation Scholarships

LUDLOW, Mass. — For the third year, Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) will award scholarships to students from Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The scholarship is open to seniors at Mount Greylock Regional High School and Charles H. McCann Technical School. BWPCC will select two students from the class of 2024 to receive $1,000 scholarships.
 
The scholarships will be awarded to qualifying seniors who are planning to attend either a two- or four-year college or trade school program. Seniors must be from either Hancock or Lanesborough to be considered for the scholarship. Special consideration will be given to students with financial need, but all students are encouraged to apply.
 
The BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project, a 12 turbine, 19.6-megawatt wind farm located on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. The non-profit BWPCC consists of 16 municipal utilities located in Ashburnham, Boylston, Chicopee, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Russell, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, and West Boylston, and their joint action agency, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC). 
 
To be considered, students must submit all required documents including a letter of recommendation from their school counselor and a letter detailing their educational and professional goals. Application and submission details will be shared with students via their school counselors. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 19.
 
 MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.  MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state's consumer-owned, municipal utilities. 
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