Overview:
The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee has rejected a proposal to limit the next fiscal year's budget to 40% over the minimum required by the state, citing concerns that they were not in a position to make such a promise. The decision comes after the town of Orange saw a significant increase in assessment, with some residents citing the regional agreement with other towns as a reason for the repeated budget issues. The School Committee has voted to return $175,000 to the four member towns to help reduce their assessments, with Orange receiving approximately 80% of the total.
ORANGE — The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee last week shot down a request to commit to limiting the next fiscal year’s budget to not more than 40% over the minimum required by the state.
The school budget proved to be a contentious topic heading into fiscal year 2026, with the School Committee voting in April to approve a 4% budget increase for the current school year, despite being repeatedly asked by town officials to make more significant cuts. The assessment to Orange increased by 12.8%.
The Selectboard had recommended the School Committee not spend more than 40% over net school spending. The required local contribution, coupled with state aid, equates to the district’s net school spending requirement. However, School Committee members said they were uncomfortable making that promise at this point.
“We’re just simply not in a position to say that we won’t go above a certain percentage or number,” Committee Vice Chair Patricia Smith said.
Chair Peter Cross said he could not in good conscience vote to cut $1 million from a budget that has not yet been workshopped, based on current school spending. Every member besides Barbara Doyle and Sharon Gilmore, who abstained, voted against the motion to limit the budget.
It was mentioned at the meeting that the fiscal year 2025 budget was 52% over net school spending, equating to about $1.2 million.
Some in town have cited the regional agreement with New Salem, Wendell and Petersham as the reason for the repeated budget issues, as a two-thirds majority of the towns is required for ratification of the Mahar budget, and Orange, due to the date of its Annual Town Meeting, is the last town to vote. In May, Selectboard member Jane Peirce said she wanted to reexamine the formula used to determine town assessments. Other residents in attendance at last week’s School Committee meeting echoed that sentiment.
Chris Woodcock, who chairs the ad hoc committee the Selectboard has tasked with making recommendations to help control the Mahar budget, advocated in favor of the Selectboard’s spending limit recommendation.
“To me, the resolution represents a reasonable approach to the FY27 budget. It would help strike the right balance between fulfilling your responsibility as elected officials to support quality education at Mahar and also doing your part as community members to enable the town of Orange to adequately fund police, fire protection and other essential municipal services,” he read from a prepared statement. “It is not an exaggeration to say that Orange’s current financial situation puts the solvency and the future of the town at risk. I urge you to keep that in mind as you consider this resolution, proceed through the budget process and ultimately adopt the FY27 Mahar budget.”
Resident Bruce Scherer said he wants a more equitable town assessment formula put in place to ensure the burden is distributed more fairly among the communities.
“I think if you look at the property tax equity issue, it has been inequitable since the beginning, and it has only become more so as time has gone on,” he told the School Committee.
Scherer said Orange has approximately 7,500 people and carries 80% of the burden of the Mahar financial relationship.
“My basic point that I’m trying to make is that this has become an existential crisis for the town. Because we are the 80% partner in this collaboration, it is also existential for Mahar itself,” he told the School Committee. “The town of Orange spent all of its available cash last year to balance the budget. There’s no more in the pot. It’s done. It’s over. And this will make the whole system crash.
“The town is making a good-faith effort to see what its possibilities are,” he continued.
Denise Andrews, who once represented Orange in the state House of Representatives, said she cares deeply about education but also about the town’s fiscal management.
“And I’ve said in multiple forums, the management of Mahar needs to significantly improve, and so does the management in the town,” she said.
Andrews also praised the ad hoc committee, which is made up entirely of volunteers, for its members’ research and hard work.
Andrews and Scherer mentioned they were disheartened by an Oct. 3 letter that Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski sent to Matthew Ehrenworth, her counterpart with the Athol-Royalston Regional School District. The letter attempts to distance the Mahar School Committee from the ad hoc committee, which she said “is not a body of the Mahar Regional School Committee and does not operate under the authority of either the School Committee or the Mahar Regional School District.”
Zielinski also wrote that the ad hoc committee is not recognized by the Mahar School Committee and does not act or speak on the school district’s behalf.
“Accordingly, the committee has no authority to engage in discussions or make representations concerning Mahar’s operations, governance or the education of students enrolled in our schools,” she wrote. “The Mahar Regional School Committee does not endorse the efforts of this ad hoc group.”
Scherer said this letter undermines the ad hoc committee’s efforts to create a more equitable situation for Orange.
The Mahar School Committee separately voted unanimously to return $175,000, to be split among the four member towns, to help reduce their assessments. Cross said the money came from a $75,000 earmark, initiated by state Sen. Jo Comerford early in 2025, from the state Legislature. Cross said the committee also subtracted $100,000 from Mahar’s School Choice money to give back that amount to the four towns because health insurance costs have increased significantly.
The money, Cross said, will be returned to the towns in early 2026, when their next quarterly bill is due. He said the amount to be returned to Orange is about $130,000 — about 80% of the total.