School Committee, HWRSD get jumpstart on budget process

Date: 12/27/2011

Dec. 26, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

WILBRAHAM — The Hampden Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) and its School Committee are attempting to get a head start on the upcoming budgeting process, hosting its first budget roundtable to discuss fiscal year 2013 (FY13) last week.

“The School Committee is cognizant of what the towns have been through with five natural disasters this year,” Scott Chapman, chair of the School Committee, said. “We know the hardship that has been presented to the towns and that is why we wanted to start this process earlier rather than later. We don’t have the governor’s numbers, so we are ahead of the curve here.”

Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea outlined what he and his leadership team believed to be the district’s upcoming objectives and needs as well as the challenges it will be faced with in the upcoming budget cycle.

O’Shea told members of the School Committee, Hampden Advisory Committee, Wilbraham Finance Committee and both Boards of Selectmen that HWRSD would need adequate funding in order to accomplish four main goals in FY13: supply adequate staffing to maintain optimal class sizes and technology integration support; invest in professional development; continue to integrate new technology equipment, including tablet and mobile computer labs; and reinvigorate arts and elective programming, which had been cut back in recent years.

One major advantage the district will have is an ever-increasing fund balance reserve, which currently stands at $956,258, which O’Shea said is an important factor in maintaining a healthy bond rating.

“That number is significant because I’m sure some can remember that at one time that figure was down to $750,” O’Shea said. “It is an achievement to be able to build healthy reserves after the year we’ve been through and I think everyone can appreciate the importance of having healthy reserves.”

He also cited use of technology, such as web-based management of maintenance, substitute teachers and library management, as well as successful collective bargaining sessions as means through which the district has been able to manage its expenses. Agreements with collective bargaining units on issues such as furloughs, salary concessions and health insurance have saved the district approximately $867,000 from FY10-12.

The use of in-district professional development, overseen by new Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Timothy Connor, as well as the reduction of out-of-district tuition has also helped keep costs down. In FY08, the district spent more than $4 million on out-of-district tuition and transportation. By FY12, the district had budgeted $3.2 million for that purpose.

“We are instituting programs in the district to keep students who normally would have to go outside the district to have their needs met, specifically in terms of special education, from having to look elsewhere,” he said.

O’Shea cited health insurance cost hikes and other upcoming fiscal obligations as a major hurdle. Health insurance costs are anticipated to increase 7.5 percent nationally, he said. The district has $1.3 million in additional cost due to negotiated agreements, while also being required to tender an 8 percent increase in funding for the Hampden County Retirement Fund for non-teaching employees.

O’Shea added that the district did not foresee any growth in Chapter 70 aid, regional transportation or special education circuit breaker funding and that approximately $400,000 in Education Jobs Fund money would not be available in FY13.

A decrease in student enrollment was anticipated, which would reduce costs. Slightly more than 300 students are expected to graduate, while somewhere between 175 and 185 new kindergarten enrollees are anticipated.

According to numbers presented by O’Shea, the district spends approximately $16,890 per pupil in a fiscal year, not including capital expenditures.