ATHOL — A public hearing on the proposed $28 million budget for the Athol Royalston Regional School District failed to attract any members of the public. The hearing on the FY23 spending proposal was held on Wednesday, April 6, in the cafeteria at Athol Royalston Middle School.
“I want to talk about what our budget priorities are for the year,” Superintendent Darcy Fernandes began. “They correlate to our strategic plan which was voted on at the start of the school year.”
Fernandes said there were four main priorities to be addressed by the spending package. The first, she explained via a PowerPoint presentation, “is to design rigorous and culturally responsive classrooms. Two, continuously develop positive and safe school environments and classrooms. Three, create and strengthen partnerships with families and community stakeholders. And, four, develop and maintain clean and full operational facilities and technologies.
“So, when we set up this budget, we looked to these objectives as our main priorities.”
Fernandes said the budget also reflects a significant increase in student enrollment over the past six year.
“In 2017, when I arrived,” she continued, “there were 1,466 kids. Right now, we have 1,590. And we’re expecting to be at 1,624 next year. So, you can see over time that our district has continued to go up in the number of students in the district, with the exception of 2021. Remember, with COVID, a number of families made the decision to do home schooling rather than work within the school buildings, and that’s where we saw the drop. The majority of those families, and more, have since come back into the district.”
The superintendent told the committee her administration has done its best to land grants and to maximize the use of those monies to provide a wide variety of student supports. Some of the money has been used to provide additional tutoring at all four schools in the district, to fund parent liaisons at all levels, to fund guidance and adjustment counselors, and to add a social studies teacher at the high school, where the freshman class currently stands at 110 students.
Additional custodial support has also been funded, along with monies for the food pantry at the high school.
Fernandes also explained that the contracts ratified by all of the district’s bargaining units have an impact on budget planning.
“What was voted for the three-year contracts,” he said, “was 1.5 (percent) for last year, 1.5 for this year, and 1.75 for next year. And so, we have to include that in our budget, along with lane updates. So, outside of the percentage, there is also lane updates, which basically means that within our contract it goes two ways — one by the degree for teachers, the other is by their number of years in the district.”
She said the overall goals of the FY23 budget is to continue to fund all district positions that were in place prior to the pandemic, to move positions that were funded by grants into the general fund, and to support the wish lists from principals relative to physical plant and technology needs.
The proposed budget or $28,028,770 represents an increase of $2,067,209 over the current year’s budget of $25,961,561. The numbers include a hike of $873,000 in teaching costs, $470,000 in fixed costs, such as insurance, and $284,000 in special services. It’s estimated the district will be receiving nearly $21 million in Chapter 70 state aid, and close to $4.5 million in grant monies.
The towns of Athol and Royalston will be kicking in a total of more than $5.8 million to the district budget. Athol’s share of $5,135,200 represents an increase of 1.97 from it’s FY22 contribution. Royalston’s portion — $731,722 — reflects a hike of 6.73 percent.
Prior to the start of the public hearing, the School Committee carried out the reorganization which traditionally takes place in the wake of the annual elections in Athol and Royalston. Lee Chauvette, the sole nominee for the post, was elected by a vote of 9-0, with Chauvette abstaining. The position of vice chair went to Nancy Melbourne, one of Royalston’s two representatives on the committee. Fernandes, who is leaving the district at the end of the school year, was appointed committee secretary.
Two newly elected members were also welcomed to their first committee meeting: Laura Robinson of Athol and Brittany Newton of Royalston.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com