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MARS Board Meeting Minutes
March 8, 2005
MINUTES FROM MARS, March 8 2005
Present: Clifford Fountain, Bruce Kaiser, Barry Motta, Maureen Marshall, Jinny
McNellen, Carol Jacobs, Dee Dee Niswonger.
The settlement of the Hancock case is not the end, it is expected. Rather, the
whole adequacy issue will have to be considered, but any conclusions will
certainly be three years away. While the 2005 decision recognizes the state’s
efforts to reach equity, it firmly indicates that the state cannot stop now; the
effort has been good but is not over.
We should expect no new money in 06, although there may be work on a formula.
The senate had prepared a bill to take up if the court decision had not favored
the state, and it included a formula (primarily target share ideas) but no new
money.
Not only should we expect no new state money, we must expect cuts in federal
money as in Title I & II, SPED reimbursements, as well as Perkins.
Our job now is to “hammer” the legislature with our needs. We must put on
pressure about transportation and keep it on. The discussion included
recognition of the non-regionalized local services, i.e. fire and police, where,
within a few towns, each town has it’s own police chief, fire chief, etc, each
overseeing a few employees or part timers, with an aggregate pay far in excess
of the school superintendent who is responsible for hundreds of employees, and
often several buildings. There was further discussion about school districts
with several superintendents for different levels and the inefficiency and
greater costs of that pattern.
The problems of school choice which take students and dollars from one district
help restrict the losing district from improving, although health costs
increasing can be a bigger burden. With inadequate recognition in the foundation
budget of the non-educational costs, all the increases in insurances further
reduce spending in education and result in cuts of programs which are attractive
to students, thereby furthering the desire for students to go elsewhere.
However, all districts are suffering under the increases in health insurance.
Municipal schools have the same problems with increasing non-educational costs.
Regions have only one source of potential increase in funds, and that is
regional transportation. This is the time of year to work hard on that. Each
district needs to inform the parents, teachers, staff, and community members of
the importance of transportation to the district, and all of those voices need
to inform their legislators. The more state money which goes into regional
transportation reimbursement, the less local money does, and since regions are
mandated to transport their students, when local money must pay for buses, it
can’t pay for classroom costs. Towns can save local dollars by working to
increase state reimbursement.
The possibilities of a statewide bidding program for transportation were
considered. Could it be done so that all busing contractors paid the same rate?
How would it be done? Are there real geographical differences in costs?
A final area of discussion was the great need for predictable funding which is
the only way a school district can plan. Without predictability, district
planning work can only go the length of time for which there is assured
financing.
It is expected that the House will “get serious” by the end of April—that may
not mean a budget even then, and in the Senate, the end of May may be their
budget. Therefore we may be looking at a late season this year.
Respectfully submitted by Dee Dee Niswonger
For More Information Contact:
Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools
P.O. Box 334, Williamsburg, MA 01096-0334
Tel: 413-268-3607
E-mail:
niswonger@comcast.net
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Massachusetts Association of
Regional Schools