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Date: 4/27/2023
WILBRAHAM — The Wilbraham Finance Committee and the Hampden Advisory Board met on April 19 with members of the boards of selectmen from both towns to discuss how to close the $850,000 gap in funding for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District.
The School Committee approved a fiscal year 2024 budget of $53.6 million on March 16. This figure is 3.97% higher than the FY23 budget. Wilbraham shoulders more than 80% of the district’s operational budget beyond the minimum local contribution, due to the split in enrollment between the towns. As a result, the assessment for Hampden is $8.64 million, with a minimum local contribution of $5.74 million. Wilbraham’s assessment is $29.4 million, with $18.23 million in the form of the minimum local contribution.
Early on in the budget process, the Finance Committee stated it was willing to pay up to $1 million over last year’s $27.5 million assessment. With Hampden’s percentage of the budget added, this left a gap of approximately $850,000.
HWRSD Superintendent John Provost and Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Aaron Osborne developed a list of programs and personnel that Provost said would be cut to bridge the divide. These included 11 paraprofessionals, a counselor at Green Meadow School, a writing workshop teacher at Wilbraham Middle School, as well as an administrative assistant for athletics, a special education teacher, two physical education teachers and nursing staff at the high school. Spanish classes for seventh grade and below, all freshman sports and a planned special education program would be cut. Provost said preventative maintenance would be deferred and there would be a reduction in software, supplies, legal services, memberships and textbook line items. Parking, student activities, graduation and athletic fees would also increase.
Advisory Board Co-Chair Doug Boyd said Hampden was not given the details on the cuts the district would make to fill in the $850,000 during the budget process. Boyd also objected to not seeing the final budget before it was voted on by the School Committee.
The budget approved by the School Committee is what will appear on the warrants at Hampden’s spring Town Meeting on May 8, and Wilbraham’s Town Meeting one week later. The numbers approved by the Finance Committee and Advisory Board are recommended figures.
The towns must vote on a shared set of numbers at the spring Town Meeting to fund the district.
Boyd explained that if either town’s vote fails, the district will need to vote on a new budget and another set of Town Meetings will need to be called. If a budget could not be agreed upon by the start of the fiscal year on July 1, the towns would need to pass “one-twelfth” budgets to fund the district on a month-by-month basis until an agreement can be made. Boyd said a “consensus number” was needed that the district and both towns “can live with” to avoid such a process. Boyd asked, “What’s a fair amount of pain” for each town and the district?
Boyd told his counterparts, “Hampden is in a position to absorb” whatever figure is required by the amount Wilbraham funds. He acknowledged that an enrollment shift had resulted in a decreasing assessment for Hampden in each of the past two years.
Finance Committee member Marc Ducey said his committee had a “strong commitment” not to fund the entire gap. He said in an average year the entirety of the year-over-year increase was about $850,000, and therefore the $1 million offer was already higher than in past years. Finance Committee member Todd Schneider said that between 2018 and the proposed FY24 budget, Wilbraham’s assessment has increased by 26.3%.
Ducey said some of the items on the list were “a good idea” and what he considered “efficiency cuts.” Schneider opined that the cuts on the list provided by the district should not have come from student-facing areas first because 40% of the budget is in administrative and other costs. Finance Committee member Joseph Lawless agreed.
Ducey broached the topic of closing Thornton W. Burgess School, which houses offices and the district’s Transitional Program for 18- to 22-year-olds. Finance Committee Chair Kevin Hanks commented that the district has not inquired as to whether Hampden wants to take ownership of the former middle school.
Finance Committee member Michael Tirabassi said the lease for Thornton W. Burgess School requires the district to maintain the buildings and grounds. “I don’t see how they would realize the potential benefits we’d like to see,” he said. Ducey recalled that Finance Committee member Peter Dufresne had completed a “detailed analysis” that showed the district would save $117,000 in the first year by cutting maintenance and utilities by 50%. Ducey said he hoped the district would close the school to help fund the gap.
Boyd commented that even though Thornton W. Burgess School was “a pebble in [Ducey’s] shoe … $100,000 in a $50 million budget” isn’t going to “make or break” the district’s finances. He said, “I don’t know that I want to give them less than their ask in hopes that they make the right decision.”
Ducey said the HWRSD’s Excess and Deficiency Account had more than a $600,000 balance but said the district did not want to tap that account any further. He noted that he had previously made a motion to fund $1.3 million with the understanding that the district would use more of its Excess and Deficiency funds.
Recently, the Finance Committee had heard that the proposed state budget would provide the district with more than $400,000 in additional regional transportation funding reimbursement, which cuts the gap in half. With that in mind, Ducey proposed Wilbraham approve $1.2 million, which along with Hampden’s portion and transportation reimbursement increase, roughly fills the gap.
Advisory Board member Kath Pessolano cautioned that the district cannot rely on the transportation cuts because the state budget has not yet been signed into law.
Advisory Board Co-Chair Carol Fitzgerald said that with Wilbraham funding $1.2 million over FY23, the district “is going to have to do some work.” She said If they cannot close the budget, the cuts “could be devastating” to families with students in the school district. Advisory Board member Heather Turcotte said that she was not in favor of the towns funding the entire $850,000 but said she would like to see what cuts would still be needed. Pessolano said she was concerned how cuts would affect special education students with individualized education plans. She said it could cost the towns more in later years if students do not get the services needed now.
Ducey asked about capital improvements. Boyd objected to the inclusion of capital projects in the towns’ assessment letter and said that because both figures were included in the assessment letters, the entire amount would need to be voted at Town Meeting, unless an amendment was made from the floor. Osborne had previously stated that both the budget and the capital planning figures had to be included in the assessment letter by law, however, Boyd and Ducey disputed this. Hampden’s portion of capital expenditures approved by the School Committee is $85,000, however, Wilbraham’s portion totals $342,000. To fund that amount, Ducey said the town would be “digging far into excess.”
Of the five items on the capital expenditures list, Ducey said the Finance Committee only considered the second-floor railing at Minnechaug Regional High School and the installation of mini split air conditioning units. The Finance Committee voted against approving either item. Schneider said the capital project should be taken off the budget and voted at the fall Town Meeting as needed.
After the numbers were crunched, the Finance Committee voted 5-0 to fund an increase of $1.15 million. The School Committee was expected to attend the next Finance Committee meeting on April 26.