School Committee, officials taking another look at level-service plan
The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District rolled out its level-service budget for fiscal 2020 during a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 6 — a $53,562,534 spending plan that increases costs by 5.6 percent without adding new programs or staff. Revenues are expected to come to $49,926,186. The current budget deficit is $3,636,348.
“Although it pains me to present a level-service budget tonight, we will always continue to move toward the greater for our students and for both Whitman and Hanson,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “This budget does not include new programs or positions.”
Instead, Szymaniak and Assistant Superintendent George Ferro have made adjustments for new curriculum materials, including a new math program and a continuation of the new technology program initiated last year. They have also restructured some positions and responsibilities to “maximize efficiency and create equity for all of our students.”
That could include, if the budget is fully funded, providing counselors at the elementary grade level.
Szymaniak reported that rising health insurance rates, contractual agreements for staff, transportation and custodial services as well as higher utility costs make up the $3,039,353 increase.
Unfunded or underfunded state and federal mandates cost the district $5,067,542. The strategic plan and fiscal 2020 budget are available online at whrsd.org.
The district has $961,237 in its excess and deficiency fund, and is required by law to keep 5 percent of the operating budget in reserve to fund unexpected expenses such as special education services.
The School Committee was scheduled to meet again at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13 to further discuss the fiscal 2020 budget.
Szymaniak outlined the district’s educational and student social-emotional and staff development goals.
He also noted that 85 positions in the school system are funded outside the operating budget by federal grants.
“Some of those grants, I’m cautious, might go away when Washington decides to make changes in education,” Szymaniak said, noting programs such as Title I, Title IIA and IDEA (a special education program. Grants totaling $1,747,524 in Fiscal 2017 and were down to $1,646,256 by fiscal 2019.
Revolving funds involving full-day kindergarten tuition, pre-school, athletics user fees and the food services program also help fund the district.
Szymaniak said he has heard “buzz” that dyslexia testing is likely to be the next unfunded mandate to come.
“I think it’s actually a good thing to do, but I don’t know where the expenses are going to come from on some of the new testing that we may have to do,” he said.
State budget trends
State representatives Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, Alysa Sullivan, R-Abington, and state Sen. Michael Brady, D-Brockton, attended the meeting, with Cutler presenting a PowerPoint update of the state budget.
Overall, state revenues are expected to see “moderate growth” for fiscal 2020, according to economic forecasts, with December and January revenue data at 2.7 percent below becnhmarks, Cutler reported.
“That’s a bit of a concern,” he said.
Gov. Baker’s budget, while up by $42.7 billion, or 1.5 percent, level funds regional school transportation at $68.9 million and McKinney-Vento homeless transportation at $9.1 million. Chapter 70 is seeing an overall increase to $5.1 billion — up 4.2 percent, but sets minimum per-pupil funding at $20.
Cutler said the minimum per-pupil increment will be one of the areas of the local legislative team’s focus this term.
“We want to make changes to the state budget that are going to most directly impact our districts [and] our schools that we represent,” Cutler said. “We’ve led the charge to try to do this increase minimum per-pupil increment) on a statewide basis … This is the key driver for our foundation budget.”
W-H’s Chapter 70 trends have increased less than 1 percent per year for the past four years and is expected to go up only .3 percent — to $24,739,620 — in fiscal 2020, due, in large part, Cutler said, to the fact that the aid is based on enrollment.
“Even though we’re adding to the big pie, we’re not necessarily seeing that translate to the local school districts like W-H,” he said of a trend that is affecting suburban districts all across the state. “It really is tied to enrollment.”
Special education Circuit Breaker funding is up by 1.4 percent to $4.5 million in the governor’s budget. Special education transportation, which costs the district close to $1 million is not reimbursable under the federal formula, Szymaniak said.
“Legislators are working to make changes on those line items,” Cutler said, noting the Chapter 70 formula is also being looked to as well as a task force on educational mandates.
Community concerns
“Thank you for presenting a level-service budget,” said Whitman resident Dawn Byers of 20 Russell Road, noting the loss of certified librarians at the elementary schools four years ago. “It’s so important not to lose any programs.”
She stressed that there are still no gifted and talented programs available in elementary and middle school grades and too few language classes at both the middle and high school level.
“I know of area high schools that provide Mandarin [Chinese] and Arabic foreign languages,” she said. “That’s not in our budget right now but it would be wonderful in the future if that would be something that we could add.”
She also said rolling the high school start time closer to 7:30 a.m. would be preferable and asked for clarification of the kindergarten revolving fund so “people don’t read that and interpret it as something that is being put on top of this budget.”
Szymaniak explained that universal full-day kindergarten has been a district priority for six years, but that tuition is charged for families who can afford it in the meantime, bringing $452,289 into a revolving fund, which pays for four teachers and seven paraprofessionals. Within the operating budget $462,775 funds five teachers and two paraprofessionals.
To go to a district-wide full-day kindergarten, the budget would have to increase by $631,732 covering three new teachers and three paraprofessionals as well as eliminating the $452,289 revolving fund, Szymaniak said. It would cost almost $1 million in the operating budget if that were done next year. He did not include it in the fiscal 2020 budget because he knew the towns were facing financial challenges.
“I don’t think there is a person on this committee that doesn’t support all-day kindergarten,” Chairman Bob Hayes said. “It’s how do you fund it when you’re in a difficult funding cycle as we are.”
Szymaniak also noted a push at the state level to require no-cost all-day kindergarten, but as an unfunded mandate unless the state opts to finance it.
“We’re getting buried by unfunded and underfunded mandates,” he said. “[DESE is] not adding things to add things, it’s for the good of the kids … and for the educational process, but some of the stuff that comes out and we put in there’s a definite cost and it’s pulling away from the education of our students.”
“It’s not an equitable situation for all the students of Whitman and Hanson at this point,” Ferro added, noting the issues that Dyers had mentioned earlier.
Whitman: ‘In override position’ in face of FY 2020 budget challenges
Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam advised the School Committee at it’s Wednesday, Feb. 6 budget roll-out meeting that a level-funded school budget will place Whitman in an override position.
“My guess is we’re going to see a combination of things this year in what we present ultimately for a budget,” Lynam said. “It will involve a request for an override. It will involve cutting some services. Ultimately, unless we find the voters very responsive and very supportive, those cuts will be system-wide.”
That means cuts to town departments as well as the schools. Identifying the needs of the district and towns and creating a sustainable way to address them is needed now, he advocated.
The level-service $53,562,534 fiscal 2020 school budget now carries a deficit of $3,636,348.
School Chairman Bob Hayes noted that the panel has tapped excess and deficiency for anywhere from $500,000 to $750,000 in past years to help close the budget gap, and did not recommend the latter amount for fiscal 2020 as it would leave little for fiscal emergencies.
The district has $961,237 in its excess and deficiency fund, and is required by law to keep 5 percent of the operating budget in reserve to fund unexpected expenses such as special education services.
“We have one bite at the apple with both towns,” Hayes said. “We know that both towns are rather close and tight dollars and cents-wise.”
Each percent in the assessment is equal to about $221,835 Hayes noted, with a 16.4-percent assessment required to balance the budget without making cuts, tapping into excess and deficiency or considering an override.
“Everyone is keenly aware of where the two towns are right now,” Lynam said, advising the committee that 16 percent isn’t going to happen.
“You’re going to have to assess what your minimum abilities are,” he said. “It is extraordinarily unlikely [16 percent] will happen. It would be great to see it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
School Committee member Fred Small said it therefore falls to the board to ask for only what they need and pointed out it is likely that universal free all-day kindergarten is not something that can happen this year.
“The only way we’re going to implement this is you’re going to have to cut,” School Committee member Dan Cullity said of the prospect of adding all-day kindergarten to the school budget. “We’re not going to see that from taxpayers because of the way that override went the last time … there’s no way the towns want to pay for this.”
School Committee member Steve Bois recalled past information that parents make the school choice decision based on where they can attend all-day kindergarten and never return to the WHRSD.
“We are losing students that will never come back to our district because we are charging $3,200 for a family to come to school here,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak confirmed.
“Short of an override, which isn’t going to happen, for just pre-k/k, we’re going to have to seek help otherwise,” Cullity said. “We’d love to jam this in there just to get it going, but when you’re looking at a $3.6 million deficit it’s hard to sell to the folks because it’s not just parents [making the decision].”
Whitman resident Marshall Ottina of 100 Lazel St., reminded the committee that of 438 districts in the state, W-H is one of only 47 not presently offering all-day kindergarten, and asked if any districts that had implemented the program, had to pull it back for lack of funds in subsequent years.
“It’s like jumping off the bridge, you can’t get back up,” Small said to illustrate his belief that once, implemented, such a program could not be withdrawn.
Lynam argued that the towns will have to decide community-wide what is important and how they get there.
“I’m not an advocate for overrides, but I am a realist,” he said, “I’m really frustrated when I hear people say, ‘No, we’ll never do an override,’ because that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
He noted that, six years ago when then-Superintendent Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner posed the question of about how to close that budget gap and, when an override was advised, asked how much to seek.
“I said, if you’re going for an override, go for all of it,” Lynam said of what would have been a 14.5-percent override question. The committee went with a 6-percent override that “flew through” instead.
“My response then was, ‘fix the problem while we have the opportunity,’ but we didn’t,” Lynam said. “We took a short-cut because we were worried about whether a 14.5-percent override would pass. I honestly believe whatever we presented would have passed … because people were aware of the need.”
School Committee member Robert Trotta said the panel always finds themselves trying to close gaps at the last minute.
“How do we improve? I don’t know,” he said. “The funding system in Massachusetts doesn’t work, the federal government impacts us with their mandates and we have state testing that impacts us.”
Committee members were also cognizant of the needs of other departments.
“We’ve got policemen handling guys with guns out there,” Small said. “God bless those guys. You’ve got firefighters running into burning buildings, you’ve got the DPW out there on the roads with the ice.”
Lynam said the problem is that, while the state is going through the same budget process, they have more revenue to spread around. The towns of Whitman and Hanson have fewer avenues through which to collect revenue.