Committee certifies $28.65 million budget
Members hope to lower budget figure before town meetings
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee members certified an approximately $28.65 million budget on Tuesday night with the hope of lowering the number before the end of April.

A $28,651,310 million budget would require a $500,000 override to fund if neither town increases their funding above the predicted 2.5 percent plus growth figures that town and school officials have been discussing for two months.

"We will go down," said School Committee member Michelle Gianino.

The committee is required by the regional agreement to certify a budget by March 15 each year. This year town officials allowed the committee to postpone certification by three days.

The committee discussed a series of options related to a possible override request both in whether they thought an override could pass, and also what should be or should not be included in that figure.

One of the issues the committee discussed is whether to increase the athletic participations fees from $100 to $160 dollars (with an additional $135 for those playing ice hockey) in order to add back in the sports teams that were cut this year.

Westminster plans to appropriate about $89,000 that the district cannot access because of shifts in student population and higher new growth income. Committee member Keith Glenny suggested the committee work with Ashburnham to have them appropriate their comparable amount, which is $74,290.

"The higher the number goes the less likelihood we would have to get it passed," Glenny said.

School Committee Chairman David Christianson said he is concerned about asking for anything less than $500,000 because it would institutionalize the cuts that were made last year, such as the curriculum renewal cycle funding, the lower number of positions, and a lower number of sports teams.

"If it fails, then what happens? You are decimating a school district," said Committee member Leonard Beaton.

The committee certified the budget and committed $300,000 of money from the district's excess-and-deficiency account to fund the first year of the district's full-day kindergarten program and about $30,000 to fund computer leases both this year and next year.

The committee decided to wait to set any athletic fees or co-curricular fees, as well as an in-depth discussion on a capital plan. The committee previously discussed using $300,000 to fund the capital plan so the district did not need to ask for voters to fund this separately.

Committee member James Rheault suggested using some of the excess-anddeficiency money to fund things such as the athletic department and the curriculum cycle. He suggested these were the most "non-reoccurring" of the reoccurring costs that could be funded with E&D.

"In my mind we'll never get a $500,000 override," Rheault said.

One of the ideas that committee members discussed was offering voters more than one override, which would let voters decide which activities they would like to fund. For example, funding the remainder of the athletic budget, and funding part of the curriculum renewal cycle and some additional positions (many of which would replace positions lost after this year's budget cuts) would be separate votes.

Christianson said no matter how much he dislikes the concept, it may be time to try something new in proposing an override because the district has only received one in the last 10 years despite numerous requests.

"How many times do you have to get hit in the head with a two-by-four before you say you have to duck," Christianson said.

Glenny and others expressed concerns about a multiple questions, because they want to know what happens when athletics is funded but curriculum and academics are not.