HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM – The Hampden–Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) were joined by select board and advisory board members from Hampden and Wilbraham, as well as state lawmakers Sen. Eric Lesser, Rep. Brian Ashe and Rep. Angelo Puppolo for a budget roundtable on March 2.

HWRSD Director of Finance, Operations and Human Resources Howard Barber began the meeting by showing a presentation that detailed a projected $2.1 million shortfall in the FY 21 budget.

The district’s FY20 budget was $48,444,374. Barber said a level service budget, in which there is no new discretionary spending, will cost $50,675,993.

“The biggest piece of it is mandated costs,” Barber said. He broke it down further, explaining that there will be an $833,215 increase to union contracts, a $182,485 increase to transportation and a $303,454 increase to out–of–district costs for special education.

Furthermore, Barber said, there is a $443,963 increase in insurance, a $76,950 increase in Hampden County retirement and a $110 increase in technology and communications costs.

Finally, the Circuit Breaker, a grant which is designed to help bear the cost of special education, was reduced by $238,538. All told, the increases in mandated costs are estimated at $2,188,605.

One of the key topics that local officials asked Lesser, Puppolo and Ashe about was transportation reimbursement. Chapter 71 state aid is supposed to reimburse 100 percent of student transportation costs for regional school districts. In the current year, FY 20, only 76 percent of eligible costs have been reimbursed.

Hampden Advisory Board Co–Chair Doug Boyd called transportation reimbursement, “an issue that directly affects each town. If ‘got a dollar in state aid, that's a dollar off the tax burden.” He added, “If we're not going to see transportation reimbursement, say so and we’ll adjust our expectations.”

School committee member Maura Ryan asked Lesser who enforces educational reimbursement that has been written into the law. Lesser explained that “it is subject to appropriation.” He said that transportation reimbursement took a hit during the Great Recession and that in 2015 reimbursement rate was only in the 60 percent range.

“Our goal, of course, is to get it up to 100 percent, but can we promise that? No, of course, we can’t,” Lesser said.

Ryan asked if the reimbursement formula could be adjusted, to which Lesser replied that the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), a newly passed law that directs more money to districts with low-income students and English language learners, was supposed to address that.

Lesser asked Barber if the numbers he was using took into account the promised funds in the SOA. Barber explained that he was using the numbers given to him by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

Barber said the district wasn’t receiving any benefit from the SOA. Instead, he said, the only effect on the towns is an increase in the mandatory contribution.

“You’re getting different information than what we voted for,” Lesser said of the SOA and added that meetings such as their roundtable give the lawmakers information when going into the budget process as they are doing now.

Another subject that was discussed was falling enrollment and the effect it has on the amount of Chapter 70 aid received by the district. Enrollment in the HWRSD is down 39 students from the 2018–2019 school year, 20 students from Hampden and 19 from Wilbraham.

Ashe asked about the decrease in enrollment. Superintendent Albert Ganem explained that the decrease is not unusual and the numbers have been trending downward in recent years.

“Every student you get is $5,000,” in Chapter 70 aid, said school committee member Bill Bontempi.

Barber said the enrollment changes would be reflected in a “significant” difference in the town assessments. Hampden’s portion of the school budget assessment is expected to decrease by between 0.53 percent and 0.12 percent, while Wilbraham’s responsibility will increase by between 2.5 percent and 3 percent.

Boyd remarked that the population shift is good for Hampden in the short–term, but indicative of long–term problems.

Ganem said new families need to be brought into the school district to increase enrollment. School choice, he said, was not a viable option because it is merely shifting students from one district to another, without solving the problem.

“School choice is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said school committee member Sean Kennedy.

Lesser said that the issue was a reflection of the lack of population growth in the region.

“If we don't get serious about this, we will be back here year after year,” he said.

“These are really tough decisions,” Ganem said. “What can we do to make the numbers work? Every cut we make has an impact on our students.”

School Committee Chair Patrick Kiernan told the legislators that the cuts that have been made over the past few years to stay on top of the mandated costs have added up.

“At some point, you’re not cutting into the bone, you’re cutting into the marrow and then there’s just nowhere left to cut,” Bontempi asked. “If you extrapolate out five years from now, what are we left with?”

Bontempi questioned what ways the district can better control non-mandatory costs. Boyd suggested restructuring the insurance so that more of the cost is shifted to employees, though he admitted it would not be a popular option. School committee member Sherrill Caruana cautioned that teachers don’t have Medicare eligibility to fall back on.

Ganem said that everything was on the table, including potentially cutting administration, paraprofessionals, teachers, secretary staff and professional learning time.

“This is going to be very painful,” Kennedy said.

Bontempi asked the town officials, “how do you raise taxes enough,” to cover the budget gap. Wilbraham Town Administrator Nick Breault explained there is a limit on the amount that can be taxed and said that in the town is already 22.6 percent. There is a cap of 25 percent, he said.

Lesser said the problems the towns are facing are part of a “systemic issue for Western Mass.” He explained that of the 50 highest property tax rates in the state, 45 were west of Worcester and eight of the top 10 were in the Pioneer Valley.

“If the base is the same every year and costs go up, the only way you can make up the difference is by raising taxes, and it’s not fair,” Lesser said. He expressed appreciation for the work the towns and the school committee are doing to keep the quality of education high amid the financial constraints.

Hampden select board member John Flynn said there had been “record profits for the state. When are we going to see that?” He continued, “You need a reasonable amount for a rainy day fund, send the rest back to us. We’re not asking for more, we expect more,” Flynn said. Puppolo agreed that the rainy day fund should start being put back into the communities and said he would take that message back to Boston.

Ganem assured the legislators that he understood the budgetary pressures at the state level, but said, “know that we need help.”

Puppolo said a house budget was being put together, and the senate budget would follow.

“We’re in the second inning of the budget process, so there’s still time. It’s about arming Angelo and Brian and I with the information we need,” Lesser said. “We’re partners in advocacy to the state. We’re all on the same team. I can’t think of anything more important than making sure our region gets its share.”

Chair of the Wilbraham Select Board Susan Bunnell asked what the towns can do to help the legislators do their jobs. Puppolo said encouraging other towns and school districts to contact their legislators would magnify their voice.

“We’re going to do what we can,” Puppolo assured.

Lesser later told Reminder Publishing, “There is nothing more important than educating our young people,” and said to do that the state needs to address its systemic issues.