A call to rein in regional schools
Local board sees unfair fiscal edge
Calling it a matter of equity, the Tewksbury School Committee is seeking state action to force regional school districts to live under the same fiscal constraints it says local districts face.
Town Meeting recently adopted the committee's proposal that Tewksbury seek state legislation capping the annual increase in assessments that regional school districts can charge their local communities to 2.5 percent, plus any cost increase for services customarily provided locally.
The committee's members said they offered the proposal out of frustration with what they view as a disparity in resources between Shawsheen Valley Regional Technical School District and the town's schools.
"We thought that the basic premises of fairness and equity ought to apply to both our school district and to Shawsheen," said the School Committee's chairman, Rick O'Neill.
O'Neill said that as a result of the town's fiscal constraints, the Tewksbury district had to cut 58 positions, 38.5 of them teaching jobs, between fiscal years 2002 and 2008, "at a time when the vocational budget grew by some $6 million more" than the budget for the local schools.
But Shawsheen's superintendent, Charles Lyons, dismissed the notion of a funding inequity as "much ado about nothing," noting that the vocational school district has not increased its assessment to any of its five member towns above 2.5 percent the past five years, and that assessments for the fiscal year starting July 1 show no increase at all.
"If somebody told me they'd give me a 2.5 percent increase every year, I'd probably take it and run," Lyons said.
The cap that Tewksbury seeks on assessment increases is in place for all public entities in Massachusetts under Proposition 2 1/2, with the exception of regional school, water, or sewer districts. The Town Meeting vote on May 6 directs selectmen to file a home rule petition with the Legislature to amend the law by removing the exemption for regional school districts.
State Representative Jim Miceli, of Wilmington, said he told Town Meeting the night the article was adopted that he was committed to pushing for the bill if voters approved it, but he cautioned that securing its passage would not be easy.
"Every regional school district will unite against this piece of legislation," said Miceli, who predicted the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education would also oppose the measure.
As a precautionary step, Miceli said, he plans to seek an opinion from House counsel that a home rule petition is an allowable vehicle for a proposed change in a statewide statute.
O'Neill said the proposed change would put regional and local school districts on equal footing when it comes to spending. He said it would also lead to greater openness in regional school district budgeting.
Lyons said he would support a cap on regional school assessments, but only if all branches of government were held to equal spending limits. He said any school spending cap should also make allowances for higher costs resulting from increased enrollments.
The Tewksbury School Committee and Shawsheen officials have had contentious dealings the past year or so.
According to O'Neill, his committee grew alarmed last year at a sudden jump in enrollments of Tewksbury students at Shawsheen. Tewksbury's enrollment at the technical high school in Billerica grew by 28 students in the 2007-2008 school year, and by another 10 students for this school year, according to Lyons.
O'Neill said the increase has meant a rise in the town's assessments to the district at a time when Tewksbury's schools are experiencing falling enrollments and declining funds.
He said it became apparent to Tewksbury officials that the rise in Tewksbury enrollments was the result of an effort by Shawsheen to broaden its mission by accepting traditional high school students in addition to youths seeking a vocational education.
"As revenue dollars shrink, it suddenly became clear to us that we were competing with the tech," O'Neill said.
Lyons denied there is any effort by Shawsheen to change its mission or to compete with Tewksbury High School.
"The evidence indicates that parents decide what is in the best interests for their students . . . I don't think it's our fault" that more Tewksbury students have applied to Shawsheen. "I think it's because of the exceptional performance my teachers provide here. I'm extremely proud of them."
"We've been an extraordinary bargain for the communities we serve," he said, noting that all five towns - Tewksbury, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, and Wilmington - approved their assessments this spring.
O'Neill said there is significant room for savings in the district's budget, however, noting that it has a larger finance department for an enrollment comparable to Tewksbury High School's.
"We feel pretty confident that our budget is in line with the cost of providing a vocational technical education," Lyons said.
He said Shawsheen's financial staff is responsible for a number of functions, such as managing investments, that local districts do not have to administer because they are handled by their town's finance department.
Lyons said the greatest challenge facing Tewksbury schools "is that they've lost so many students in the last number of years . . . I hope they can restore confidence in the Tewksbury public schools, but don't restore confidence by tearing down another school district."
O'Neill said Tewksbury's enrollment decline is the result of a natural population drop in students of high school age, the growth in local charter schools, and the appeal of the area's parochial high schools.
At the very least, the town's proposal will trigger lively discussion of spending by regional schools, O'Neill said. 