Great Barrington — In an apparent reversal of public sentiment, voters at Monday night’s (May 4) Annual Town Meeting overwhelmingly supported the Berkshire Hills Regional School District’s $13.5 million assessment to the town for the coming year, and voted down the majority of articles designed to advise the school district about certain issues that became central during last fall’s town-wide dust up over the plan to renovate the 48-year-old Monument Mountain Regional High School.
And in a show of confidence in town leadership the annual meeting also approved the town’s operating budget of $10.9 million.
In a turnout of 324 residents in the Monument High auditorium, voters shot down the adoption of a bylaw conceived by Finance Committee Chair Sharon Gregory and crafted by both her and committee member Michael Wise, that would have required financial reporting by the town and school district beyond what each entity must already report by law.
The school budget vote comes after a year of community agonies and polarization over a plan to renovate the aging high school, with subsequent threats to the coming school budget, followed by a 7 percent budget increase that nearly cut staff and programming, but was later rescinded due to community outrage.
Superintendent Peter Dillon explained that the reasons for the increase, of which Great Barrington will have to pay an additional $911,000 this year, are mostly due to variables out of the district’s control, primarily caused by a health insurance costs which this year increased about 13 percent. Since 76 percent of the school district’s $24 million budget goes to salaries and benefits for its 265 full time employees — of which 136 are teachers — it is a significant wallop, particularly to Great Barrington, which has to shoulder half its budget. It is this burden that is at the heart of the discord over school issues this past year, and which resulted in voter rejection of the plan to renovate Monument High, a project that would have come with $24 million in state reimbursement, almost half the cost of the project.
Dave Long of Housatonic, an outspoken critic of the renovation plan, and now an advocate for a systemic change to address the district’s financial and infrastructure issues, “implored everyone” to vote for the school budget. “If we start ripping apart the fabric of the schools, I think it could be disastrous,” he advised.
George Beebe said the “problem is the school budget.” Yet in his 38 town meetings it has only been voted down once, he added. He wanted this to be the second time. “We’ve got to stop hemorrhaging.”
“We’re bleeding here,” agreed Charles Williamson. “Retirees don’t get an increase.”
Selectboard member Dan Bailly explained that the coming 61-cent estimated increase in the tax rate is due entirely to the school budget increase. Bailly has been vocal about his opposition, but has said that as a parent, it is a difficult choice.
Selectboard candidate, outspoken school critic and change advocate Karen Christensen said the budget should be supported “because it came with the explicit promise,” of change. “Let’s hold the school committee to account.”
Sharon Gregory, who was also not in favor of the renovation plan and who has been outspoken about financial and equity problems around the regional agreement between Great Barrington, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, said she supports the budget because she “sees a will” on the part of the school committee to initiate changes.
