To the Editor:
With the budget season upon us, Great Barrington is once again being blamed for not wanting to pay 70 percent of the costs for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. These accusations are based on misinformation. Worse yet, over-zealous personal attacks again have undermined our sense of community and reduced civil discourse.
There are several promising options to address this situation, but first, let’s clear up the facts.
As shown in BHRSD’s budget (3/3/16), net school costs of $20.5 million are divided, of which $14.5 million, or 70 percent is funded by Great Barrington. However, it has only 51 percent of all students in the district. A significant proportion of students (27 percent) are not from the district and not factored into allocations.
HIGH SCHOOL. Costs are more expensive for high school education in terms of teaching, equipment and buildings. Most costs are long-term. Three quarters of these are for personnel and benefits, so cutting one or two administrative or teaching staff members does little. In fact, BHRSD has over 400 employees, retirees and dependents covered with lifetime health benefits. We need to plan carefully as to the size of the school we need in all ways and allocate expenses to towns fully and equitably. Likewise, borrowings for buildings and equipment usually cover 20-30 year periods, so commitments made today affect many, many future graduating classes and taxpayers.
Great Barrington (in blue in chart below) has only 42 percent of the high school students, but again, we pay 70 percent of the costs. In fact, the out-of-district high school students are 36 percent of the total enrollment.
Even though the towns or the state contribute an average of $6,000 annually between choice-in and tuition-in students from outside the district, it is hardly enough. Other towns gladly go along with the outdated statutes that support this inequity, but there are new ways to make changes, if only there were the will to do so. Closing off choice-in or tuition-in programs will limit the education of all students so all towns should have the will to search for other solutions.
Which choice-in high school students are affected at BHRSD? Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD) has 54 in total, with most coming from Monterey (21), Sheffield (11), New Marlborough (9), Egremont (8), and Alford (3). Overall, the number of SBRSD K-12 students in BHRSD includes these large populations: Sheffield (25), Monterey (35), Egremont (20), New Marlborough (20) and Alford (16). That’s a lot of choice-in students.
Tuition-In students (a total of 122) primarily attend the high school: Otis/Sandisfield (58); Richmond (35) with lower grades coming through choice-in programs from these towns.
Other towns with students at BHRSD: Lee (17), Lenox (8); Pittsfield (11); others places (15).
In the face of these unsustainable budget inequities, we need to ask ourselves: Can Great Barrington taxpayers keep on paying 70 percent of short-term and long-term school education costs (thereby letting the other towns continue to get a discount at our expense)?
If not, we need to work harder on ways to support our students now and in the future. Most promising are a combination of the following options:
- The first change is to revise the 25-year-old district agreement to share education funding more equitably. As long as Stockbridge and West Stockbridge approve the budget at their annual town meetings, Great Barrington has no choice but to pass it since 2 of 3 towns prevail. (Great Barrington’s vote is merely a formality except for capital expenditures like the high school where a ballot vote is required.) However, we can negotiate changes, especially in the assessment method and we should. Attend the fourth regional amendment meeting March 15th.
- Commit strongly to the Southern Berkshires Shared Services Program (SBSSP). This program, introduced by State Rep. William Smitty Pignatelli, will help share school costs fairly across the Southern Berkshires.
Smitty notes that declining populations compel us to combine programs. SBSSP now appears to be a realistic vehicle to compensate for budget shortfalls. Out-of-district students who attend BHRSD and their parents should show up at their own town meetings to advocate combining the cross-district classes. This would help fund common programs so they are NOT CUT. Even further, those who advocate combining major programs should vote for officials (town and school) who clearly support shared services!
- Lobby the governor to change the regional education rules, or at least, relieve rural counties from these severely outdated rules. The current regional funding methods load education costs onto places like Great Barrington where clustered communities promote centers for hospitals, schools, and affordable housing. Yet there are no taxes from these nonprofits. At the same time, outlying communities use these services but become tax-advantaged because they might have few students living within their borders.
We all need to lobby the greater Southern Berkshires communities who can get behind real change. This should be the last year that Great Barrington supports the school budget without rectifying the underlying funding problems. Don’t wait until our “Best Small Town” has been broken and a balanced community no longer exists.
Sharon Gregory
Great Barrington
