The board started the two-hour meeting with six items on the agenda but, thanks to a vigorous debate from members of the public, only managed to address two subjects.
Revised budget projections presented by business manager Ronda Lackey indicate that Whitingham might see a substantial increase in cost and tax rates if they choose to tuition only their high school students. If the town decides to tuition grades 7-12, however, the town could break even. The revised figures differed slightly from those presented a week earlier, which indicated only a slight increase in cost if the town tuitioned high school students.
Using current figures, Lackey estimated that the town’s education spending would rise by more than $195,000 per year, and would put the town into Act 68’s “penalty box” by $133,408 if they chose to tuition high school students only. Per-pupil cost would rise by more than $1,500, from $13,979 to $15,595, including the Act 68 penalty. Whitingham’s tax rate would rise from the current $1.98 to $2.21.
During the first year, contracted teachers’ severance pay would add about $210,000 to the tab, raising the Act 68 penalty amount $343,854, and the tax rate to $2.48
But the budget estimates weren’t all bad news. If Whitingham decided to tuition students in grades 7-12, their education costs would rise by about $9,000 – the nominal tax rate would remain at about $1.98. But the district would still have to pay teachers’ severance pay, and during the first year that would add another $221,428 to the budget, resulting in an Act 68 penalty of about $168,000 and pushing the tax rate up to $2.24.
Parent Aimee Reed asked the board if students with IEPs would be able to choose more expensive “outplacements” if the town had school choice. Superintendent Dr. M. Peter Wright said outplacements were determined through the IEP process, which includes parents, but parents wouldn’t be able to choose placements beyond the needs of their students.
But school board chair Seth Boyd acknowledged that the potential special education costs were “a big unknown. Right now we have some students that we can keep in-house,” he said, referring to Twin Valley’s alternative education program. “If we don’t have the system that we have now, we don’t know what the cost may be.”
Looking at the numbers, Whitingham parent Penny Bernard asked “how much better could we make the school if we just gave that money to Twin Valley?”
Bernard said the cost comparison didn’t show the full picture of the increase in cost that some parents would face if their children didn’t go to the only high school to which transportation was proposed in the budget, Mohawk Trail Regional School. In addition to tax increases for the high school choice option, Bernard said she estimated she would have to pay $9,000 per year, or $41.90 per day in transportation costs, based on a federal mileage rate of 54 cents per mile. “That’s a cost of nine grand, plus there are lost wages,” she said. “That means you really don’t have school choice. I think you should look at running three buses to three different schools.” Each additional bus would add another $40,000 to the budget.
But board member Cheree Dix reminded the board of her proposal to enter into an agreement with other sending towns to share transportation. Each town would provide a bus to one of three schools, and students from participating towns could ride the bus that goes to the school of their choice. She said Halifax and Readsboro board members have expressed interest in the idea.
Parent Andrew Walkowiak said that, although the plan could reduce the additional transportation cost to parents, it would likely mean more transportation time for students. “With the time it takes to get from Whitingham to Readsboro, and from Readsboro to (North Adams) on a school bus, we’re talking an hour and a half to get to school,” he said.
Whitingham resident Johanna Boliver said none of the school choice issues were mysterious, or difficult to overcome. She noted that parents in Dover, Marlboro, Halifax, Readsboro, and other surrounding towns have school choice, and she said she knew of parents who moved to those towns so they could have school choice.
But Bernard said she stayed in Whitingham because of the schools, and knew of many people who moved to the town because of the school system. “I have a hard time putting my kid through this situation,” she said, referring to turmoil over the outcome of the referendum. “I have a difficult time with people in town telling me what to do with my kids.”
Reed said she asked her son what kids at Twin Valley School were saying about the referendum. “He said ‘we don’t want to split up, we have our friends, and we think everyone should shut up and go away,’” she said. “They’re very concerned about this.”
Looking at the $133,408 that would have to be cut from the projected K-8 budget to keep the town out of the “penalty box” and under a $2 tax rate, Dix asked principal Bill Anton to prepare a recommendation for possible budget cuts. But board member Ed Metcalfe objected that it wouldn’t lead to a valid comparison between the current program and the program the district would have under the proposed 9-12 school choice.
“Well, that could be another option,” suggested Boyd. “What would we do if we had to cut $133,000 from the budget and, remember, we can only cut from K through 8. We can’t cut high school.”
Dix said she’d also like to see an estimate of Whitingham’s costs for renovations at Twin Valley High School. “How will that affect our tax rate?” she asked. “Because something needs to be done there.”
Bernard said she’d prefer to take the tax increase and spend it on improvements at Twin Valley than to spend “to get school choice that we really don’t have.”
“We don’t have a choice,” said parent Marshall Dix. “If we stay together we have to do something, and it’s going to raise our taxes. The question is, how much.”
But board members said there was no high school renovation proposal, and there were no figures that could be used in estimating Whitingham’s cost for any high school renovation project. “Those discussions were put on hold because of this (referendum),” Boyd said. “We had 55 days from the time we got the petition to the time we have to have the vote.”
“There was no way we could put out the facility options in 55 days,” added Metcalfe. The board also worked on a questionnaire that would be sent to each of about eight schools in surrounding communities to which Whitingham students might go. The list of about 30 questions would give parents and voters an opportunity to compare schools on the same criteria. The subjects covered by the questions ranged from tuition rates and course offerings to dropout rates and school climate.
Referring to a decision the board made at a previous meeting, Whitingham resident Sherry Adams said she was disappointed that there wouldn’t be an informational meeting with representatives from the schools from which Whitingham parents and students might choose. “We talked about it, and we don’t want to be in that situation,” Boyd said. “We want an apples to apples comparison, without any salesman’s pitch.”
The board will meet weekly and will hold two informational meetings at the school, on Monday May 18, and Thursday, May 21, at 7 pm.
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