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Date: 2/8/2023
HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM – The Hampden Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) is $3 million shy of the funding it needs to operate in fiscal year 2024 (FY24), which begins July 1.
“We’re trying to whittle down the budget,” School Committee member Bill Bontempi said, but acknowledged there was not much more that could be removed. “It’s going to be a really hard year and next year’s going to be even worse,” he shared.
School Committee member Patrick Kiernan said Thornton W. Burgess School (TWB) is operating “way under its planned operating capacity.” Closing the school’s doors could save money in the immediate term, he said, suggesting there are other locations for the programs currently housed in the building. Bontempi agreed with Kiernan. He said the Wilbraham Finance Committee is “fixated” on closing TWB, which would save an estimated $120,000 in overhead.
“We’re hemorrhaging cash in terms of building utilization,” Bontempi said, asking the district to explore building usage districtwide. School Committee member Sean Kennedy noted a subcommittee is doing just that, as studying the regional agreement and district configuration is part of the Strategic Plan.
Adding to the financial concerns, Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Aaron Osborne told the committee that HWRSD risks losing funding if it does not recommit to the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) program for the 2023-2024 school year. Springfield METCO is a voluntary program that buses children from Springfield to suburban school districts to increase diversity, reduce racial isolation and expand educational opportunities. The cost of transportation is the responsibility of the district receiving the students.
HWRSD receives $130,000 annually for taking part, “as long as we make a conscious effort to honor the program,” said Osborne. However, he explained, “Our numbers have dwindled rapidly.” If trends continue, there will be no METCO students accepted into HWRSD in the next school year and the district would lose that funding.
“Every $130,000 counts,” Superintendent John Provost said. He also acknowledged that “there are benefits” to a greater diversity in the student body.
Capital expense
A fix for the second-floor railing at Minnechaug Regional High School (MRHS), which has posed a potential safety issue, was put out to bid for $120,000, but it is expected to cost “significantly” less. Osborne explained that the figure creates a cushion to absorb unexpected costs considering inflation volatility. He suggested the funding come from the high school’s stabilization fund, which currently has a balance of about $325,000.
Kiernan suggested seeking money from the towns’ American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the project. Osborne reminded the committee that HWRSD had received over $300,000 from ARPA to replace network switches last year. School Committee Vice Chair Maura Ryan said the towns had already earmarked the remaining ARPA funds for other projects, but Kiernan remarked, “They may be earmarked but they still exist. They’re not spent.” He suggested splitting the project cost three ways between the twos and the district. Osborne said he would bring that request to the towns.
Graduation outcomes
Provost presented data on the outcomes for HWRSD graduates. The superintendent reported between 78 and 80 percent of MRHS graduates go on to post-secondary education. Two-thirds of those who graduated from HWRSD in 2021, the latest year for which there is data, enrolled in college that fall.
More than 90 percent of students who enrolled in the fall of 2020, continued their post-secondary education in 2021. Provost said data for the past five years shows that 75 percent of MRHS graduates obtain a degree within four or five years.
Meanwhile, 10 percent of high school seniors have post-graduation plans that do not involve college, such as entering the workforce, vocational training or the military. Just 2 percent have no plans after graduation.
Provost said this data is more reflective of the realities of HWRSD’s academic achievement than the U.S. News & World Report rankings, last released in December 2022, which put heavy emphasis on Advanced Placement (AP) tests and ranked MRHS 162 out of 378 high schools in Massachusetts.
School Committee Chair Michal Boudreau read a letter written by a student that said U.S. News & World Report values “superficial” metrics. The student said that while AP classes can be beneficial, “pushing AP classes onto students” can set them up to fail and prioritizes the wrong aspects of education.
“It’s rewarding” to see “the work we do” has an impact, Bontempi said.
Subcommittee Policy
The committee reviewed its policy and rules regarding subcommittees. Among the items discussed was the review of subcommittee meeting minutes by the full committee in open session to make them part of the official record. Kennedy stated that the committee has never done that in his seven years as part of the body. Ryan told him it is part of the Open Meeting Law and that there are several things the School Committee is “supposed to do” that have not been done in the past.
Another item on the list was the way subcommittee chairs are chosen. In the past, committee members have volunteered for subcommittees during the once-yearly reorganization meeting and those subcommittees have chosen their chair. Boudreau and Ryan said the School Committee Chair is supposed to nominate subcommittee chair and the entire committee votes on that nomination.
Bontempi opposed that system and said that, as each subcommittee has three members, the votes of whichever four School Committee members that do not sit on subcommittee have an outsized impact on whether someone is named subcommittee chair. He said a subcommittee not being able to select their own chair undermines its authority. Ryan reminded him that subcommittees are essentially “working groups” and have no authority of their own.
The conversation came around to a discussion the Finance Subcommittee had had that a survey should be created. While not voted on by the whole committee, the survey was created, and the data came back to the subcommittee. Bontempi said he had not instructed Provost to do anything, but Ryan pushed back, “When a subcommittee says, ‘We should do this or that,’” it can be taken as a directive.
The subcommittee policy was sent back to the policy subcommittee to be reviewed and adjusted as needed. Ryan suggested that all School Committee members take training on the Open Meeting Law, something that is required every few years.