Dr. David Hopson
12 Littleville Rd
Huntington, MA 01050

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April 2 , 2007

As evident in my last several columns, the ability of the towns to support the district’s budget relies heavily on the state choosing to support rural, economically depressed, and declining enrollment districts, which are primarily located in Western Massachusetts. This support needs to be in a number of areas including:

 

  1. Fully funding regional transportation reimbursement as per state law.
  2. Funding the R.E.D. circuit breaker proposal from the Massachusetts Association of Regional School Districts.
  3. Funding the Small Schools Initiative from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.
  4. Fully funding the special education circuit breaker legislation.
  5. Increasing Chapter 70 Aid to schools to reflect the actual costs of educating our children.
  6. Fully funding the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program that provides state funding to towns for state owned property within town borders.

As the state budget is currently under development in both the House and Senate, now is the time to contact our legislators, the chairs of the appropriations committees, the Senate President and Speaker of the House, and the chairs of the education committees to let them know the importance of these items to the survival of our school district and communities. The district budget and school committee presentation are located on the district’s website (www.grsd.org) along with other supporting documentation. Phone calls, letters, and e-mails are all acceptable methods of contacting legislators.

Governor Duval Patrick should also be contacted by phone, letter, or e-mail concerning these same issues surrounding the economic viability of our towns and schools. Governor Patrick is also taking comments in several areas on his own website on a number of issues including education.

In talking with several town finance committees, it appears that without action on the part of the state we will be faced with some very difficult choices. These choices will essentially be between raising taxes using Proposition 2 ½ overrides or consolidating our five elementary schools and reducing staff throughout the district. As with town budgets, there is very little wriggle room given the increases in insurance, operating costs (including utilities), and the cost of meeting ever-increasing state mandates. I would certainly urge all of our community members to take the time to understand the financial state of our schools and towns and then take the time to contact the state and urge an increase of support to our schools and communities.

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