Mt. Greylock High School Debates Lanesborough Assessment
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — There are three options to solve the budget problems at Mount Greylock Regional High School – use reserves, make cuts or take it to a district meeting – but the school committee is still undecided which way to go.Lanesborough voted for a school budget last week that was $30,000 short of the school's request; the school committee discussed the next possible steps Tuesday night. For about half an hour, the committee debated the three options the school now has in front of it before deciding to hold off making a decision for at least another month.
"Our budget for next year includes over $100,000 in federal stimulus money, which is going to run out. That means if we carve out $85,000 this year, we're down $185,000 without even thinking about health insurance or anything else going into next year's budget," Heather Williams, chairwoman of the school's finance subcommittee, said. "I'm not comfortable going back and saying we caved. We caved last year. We said 'ok, Lanesborough, we'll do what you want us to do' but I think there is a time when you have to draw a line."
Williams said that the hole created by cutting the budget would force the school to ask the town for a significant increase next year and expressed frustration that the school was denied its assessment despite building a budget that was "responsible." The budget reduced Lanesborough's assessment by about $25,000. Williams advocated to take the issue to a joint-town meeting.
Committee member Carrie Greene, however, said that the damages caused by a joint-town meeting will not bode well for the school in the future when officials begin to make the case for building a new school. She began the meeting in favor of cutting the budget but later agreed with Williams' points about the long-term damages that would cause – leaving undecided.
"We all know how a district vote will go and that would be very, very, very unfortunate for Lanesborough," Greene said. "I'm not at all interested in increasing or establishing any level of animosity between the two towns."
Greene also shot down the idea of using school choice funds to balance the budget, which the town of Lanesborough wanted from the school. The debate at Lanesborough's town meeting was centered on those reserve funds.
Lanesborough Finance Committee Chairman William Stevens said that it was unfair for the town to diminish its reserves while the school has more in its kitty.
Lanesborough's finance committee based its recommendation on budget numbers that predicted the school to have about $560,000 at the end of the next fiscal year, while the town would only have $440,000. By using school choice funds to fill the gap, the school would be down to about $470,000, while the town would be at $410,000 at the end of next year – a fair amount for both, Stevens said.
Williams contested that the town's shortage of reserve funds was due to its own mismanagement.
"The town of Lanesborough itself needs to make better financial choices," Williams said. "We do not have a health care plan that went up by 12 percent. Lanesborough was told in the fall to switch to the health care provider that we have and they shrugged it off and stayed with a health care provider that gave them 12 percent increases. I think there are some important issues here that go beyond just what our choices are right this minute and they have to do with asking the town government, not the people but the government of Lanesborough, to be more responsible in their own budget and their own choices rather than asking us to cut."
The school committee also refutes those numbers, saying the school currently has only has $377,000 in reserves. Last week the school's Director of Finance Jennifer Coscia said the prediction for the end of next year is currently at $430,000 – not $560,000.
"I think the vote was predicated on a misunderstanding," Greene said. "I think it is inappropriate and ill-advised for us to use $85,000 from our school choice funds when we already allocated quite a bit of money from our school choice funds. To go from $377,000 and take $85,000 more, it would be highly irresponsible."
The school can go without approved assessments until December and the committee may just take its time, which would make Lanesborough's monthly payments equal to last year's higher assessment, according to Williams.
A few committee members also said that Lanesborough voters did not understand the impacts of the shortage. Because of the cost-sharing agreement, if Lanesborough's assessment is less, Williamstown must also be less. The school is looking at a shortfall of about $90,000.
Tags: budget, Mt. Greylock High School, schools,
