Town, school authorities meet to discuss budget concerns
Date: 11/19/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comWILBRAHAM — Members of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD), School Committee, Hampden and Wilbraham Boards of Selectmen, Wilbraham Finance Committee and Hampden Advisory Board met on Nov. 13 to discuss the upcoming budget cycle and challenges and opportunities facing both towns and the district.
"Our finances continue to be challenging, so we thought it would be useful for everyone to take this opportunity to voice any concerns they may have," Hampden Advisory Board member Doug Boyd said.
Boyd said that Hampden was in good fiscal shape, but it did have some capital projects, including a new police station, which would require funding.
Wilbraham Town Administrator Robert Weitz stated that Wilbraham was also in a good financial situation in spite of recent storm cleanups and impending capital projects of its own. He added that for the first time in his tenure, the town was below its levy limit, though there was not much room.
HWRSD Superintendent M. Martin O'Shea told the group gathered at Minnechaug Regional High School's Information and Research Commons that the district was "in solid fiscal shape," but that it did face its share of challenges in the coming years.
Most prevalent from an educational standpoint, he said, was the number of unfunded federal and state mandates the district must deal with, including the shift to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a federal program that all but five states have adopted, additional professional assessment procedures and the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, which are designed to assess student growth from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"We can't argue with the direction of these programs, but finding resources is a challenge," he said.
O'Shea added that the district was in the midst of facility and technology studies, which would provide insight into upcoming needs for the schools.
O'Shea said that technology is one area where he believes, outside of the new Minnechaug building, the district lags behind.
"We have met with the East Longmeadow [Information Technology director] as well as some other communities to get a sense of where we are," he said. "Compared with our neighbors, which we consider our benchmark, we are behind in this regard. I can't emphasize enough how important technology is. Our K through eight has a ways to go."
O'Shea said, as an example, that in East Longmeadow, every classroom in the district had interactive white board technology.
He also added the PARCC assessment would be a computerized assessment.
O'Shea stressed the need for a fiber optic network, stating that the schools as a whole do not possess the proper bandwidth to ensure effective Internet access for their students. The network also includes phone systems and other communications for the schools.
Timothy Connor, director of Curriculum and Instruction, attested to those problems, stating that earlier in the week, he had attempted to conduct professional development sessions at Wilbraham Middle School and Thornton Burgess Middle School, but certain web-based aspects of the training could not be fulfilled because of the low bandwidth.
Wilbraham Board of Selectmen Chair Robert Boilard suggested that monies collected from the rental of the Memorial School Building to the Diocese of Springfield could be used for a fiber optic build-out.
School Committee member Marc Ducey said that he believed a process for continued upgrade and maintenance of technology should be developed so similar discussions wouldn't have to occur in the near future.
School Committee Chair D. John McCarthy suggested that the towns could tap their municipal buildings into a fiber optic network with the district, however, Hampden Board of Selectmen Chair John Flynn said his town would probably not get the same benefit from that since most departments are in the same area, as opposed to Wilbraham where they are more spread out.
"When we have a question, all we have to do is stick our heads out the door and yell," Flynn said jokingly.
O'Shea also said the district should keep in mind that collective bargaining contracts are due for renewal in 2013.
"We're a district that provides competitive salaries and have been able to give raises over the last 10 years," he said.
Beth Regulbuto, assistant superintendent for Business, also explained that new legislation calls for a raise in regional transportation reimbursements to 85 percent by next fiscal year. However, she said she did not expect the district to ever realize that number, stating that it was more likely it would continue to receive this year's reimbursement of 65 percent.
O'Shea added that one area where the district is doing well is in the construction and demolition associated with the Minnechaug project.
"We haven't tapped into any of our reserves or contingency funds," he said.
Wilbraham Finance Committee Chair Susan Bunnell suggested that the same group reconvene at a later date, as she saw several areas that require more discussion.
It was agreed that a similar meeting would take place in early February 2013 after Gov. Deval Patrick's budget numbers are released.
