Towns have choice on funding formula
By Caitlyn Kelleher

Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District officials made the decision with town officials in the 1990s not to fund the district through a state formula but instead follow the regional agreement signed in 1954.

Now they must have the same discussion again.

A new state formula for school districts' foundation budgets will determine a town's minimum contribution based on property values and the income of the residents instead of the student enrollment.

"The default is the legislation unless both towns decide to use the regional agreement," said Jeff Wulfson, the associate commissioner of the state Department of Education.

The regional agreement signed by officials in both towns determine that the expense of the school district's budget not funded by the state would be split between the two towns based on the percent of the students enrolled from each town.

School committee member and town officials met with Wulfson, on Oct. 10 to talk about how the new state regulations will affect the regional agreement.

"Speaking for myself, I think the assessment for school's cost based on enrollment inherently makes sense," School Committee Chairman David Christianson said after the meeting. "I don't think that there is any movement to change that."

In districts where the towns are facing a real disparity in financial status then the new formula may work better, but in Ashburnham and Westminster the demographics are fairly similar, he said.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Zapantis said he thinks that the school committee will be the ones able to recommend to voters which formula to use.

Town and schools officials won't know until the new regulations are finalized if they will have to ask voters at a special town meeting to approve the plan to continue to fund the district according to the regional school agreement.

Wulfson said the DOE does not want to make the process any harder for districts so they may allow the vote to follow the regional school agreement occur concurrent with the vote on the school budget at the annual town meetings.

"I don't think there is the intent to have separate town meetings for this," Wulfson said.

Both towns currently pay the district money above the state minimum requirement, which changes every year. As with the amount the state requires towns to pay, the extra money the towns give the district to fund their budget is also split on the percent of students enrolled.

"Our pot is only so big," said Westminster Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Lorraine Emerson. "If our minimum goes up, then what we pay above and beyond will have to go down."