Special Town Meeting - Phillipston:

See the articles that relate to Templeton (entire warrant can be found on Phillipston town website.)


Greetings: In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Phillipston qualified to vote in elections and town affairs to meet at the Phillipston Memorial School, 20 The Common, Phillipston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. to act on the following articles:


Article 1. TO AMEND THE NARRAGANSETT REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AGREEMENT To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the Narragansett Regional School District to amend the Narragansett Regional School District Agreement by deleting the current Section XII, Assignment of Pupils, and replacing it with the following:

SECTION XII ASSIGNMENT OF PUPILS Students in kindergarten through grade five (5) shall attend schools in their respective towns of residence, except as hereinafter provided. The School Committee may determine by a majority vote of the entire Committee to assign kindergarten through grade five (5) students to schools in a town other than their respective town of residence under the following circumstances: (1) in the event of an emergency which prevents use of a building in whole or part; or (2) a student requires specialized education or accommodation for a disability that cannot be provided by the school in the student’s town of residence and the parent or guardian of the student approves of the assignment.

Parents may request attendance in any of the Member Town schools through the so-called “school choice” program, subject to approval of the Superintendent.

or act in relation thereto

Article 4. TO PETITION THE GENERAL COURT FOR SPECIAL LEGISLATION PROVIDING FOR RECALL OF ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE NARRAGANSETT REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE

To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectboard to petition the General Court for a special act providing for the recall of elected members of the Narragansett Regional School District School Committee, which act shall be prepared by the Selectboard and shall include but not be limited to the following: an affidavit to be signed under the penalty of perjury, setting forth the grounds for recall, to be signed by no less than 50 voters of each member town; a petition form including the grounds for recall as set forth in the affidavit, and listing the names of the first five voters who signed the affidavit from each member town, to be signed by no less than 10% of the voters in the district, with no more than 7.5% of such signatures to be from one member town, and which act authorizes the holding of a district election, to be paid for by the district, at which the question of recall and the election of a successor shall be acted upon; and further that a person who resigns following the submission of a recall petition, or who is recalled from office, shall be ineligible to be appointed to a position with the regional school district for a period of one year; provided, however, that the General Court may make clerical or editorial changes of form only to the bill, unless the Selectboard approve amendments to the bill before enactment by the General Court; and, provided further that the Selectboard is hereby authorized to approve amendments which shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of this petition;
or act in relation thereto

Article 5. TO DIRECT THE SELECTBOARD TO OBTAIN AN AGREEMENT FROM TEMPLETON REGARDING PHILLIPSTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

To see if the Town will direct the Selectboard to obtain the following as a signed agreement from the Selectboard of Templeton: “The Town of Templeton swears that it will not seek or accept monetary payments from the Town of Phillipston to help pay for their new elementary school should Phillipston students be assigned there.” And the Town further directs that no Phillipston students shall be allowed to attend the new elementary school in Templeton unless this agreement is signed by all Templeton selectmen and notarized;

or act in relation thereto

BOSTON — Thousands of students in Massachusetts move between public school districts every year, taking millions of dollars in state education funding with them.

Critics say the system is flawed, and they are pushing to change how the money is allocated.

Under inter-district school choice, parents have the option of enrolling their children in a community other than their hometown. While public school districts can decide whether to accept out-of-district students — about 40 percent don’t participate — they cannot hold back students who want to move elsewhere.

Since the program was rolled out nearly three decades ago, the number of students moving around has grown to more than 17,000, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said school choice is a mixed bag.

“For receiving districts, it works pretty well,” he said. “But the problem is that low-performing districts that are losing students end up losing money that they can ill afford to lose.”

In some cases, however, districts that lose students through school choice end up making money.

The reason is, under the school choice program, districts still receive state education aid for students who’ve left. While those districts must pay students’ tuition at their new schools, the state caps the fee at $5,000 per student per year.

One proposal, filed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, calls for increasing the tuition cap to $6,500 per student.

School choice advocates like the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank, say raising the cap will create a fairer system.

Last year, Pioneer released a report noting the cap hasn’t kept pace with inflation, or overall education spending.

“The increases should be high enough to incentivize more high-performing districts to accept non-residents,” the report’s authors wrote. “But there needs to be a balance between those amounts and the need to maintain fiscal stability in the sending districts.”

Pioneer has also recommended raising an overall cap on the program, now set at 2 percent of statewide public school enrollment.

The Pioneer report noted school choice has become a “budget tool” for some high-performing districts that actively recruit students from economically challenged areas.

“School committees actively seek non-residents not just to fund special programs, but to balance their budgets,” the report’s authors noted.

Losses and gains

Under the current design, districts can gain or lose significant money from their budgets due to school choice.

Gloucester, for example, expects to lose more than $2 million in state funding due to 297 students leaving in the current school year, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In the meantime, the district will only will bring in $292,301 from 42 pupils coming from other communities.

Lawrence schools stand to lose $424,955 from 62 students moving to other districts, but hasn’t received students this year from the program.

Same goes for Methuen, which expects to lose 42 students this year with $342,907 in funding that will follow them to other communities.

Some districts, like Peabody and Rockport, are gaining state education funding from the school choice program.

Peabody expects to receive $640,213 from 113 students coming from other communities, while losing $330,377 to 49 students opting out.

Rockport is receiving 250 students this year, which will bring more than $1.7 million in funding, and losing 34 at a cost of $257,914.

A recent state report looking at the impact of school choice on rural districts was also critical of its effects, concluding that it has “created a situation where districts are competing with one another over an ever diminishing population of students.”

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for The Salem News newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhi.com

Study Finds MA Inter-District School Choice Program a Success, but Should Be Updated

May 15, 2018by Editorial Staff

Policy makers should raise tuition rate, cap on program enrollment

BOSTON – With little fanfare or controversy, Massachusetts’ inter-district school choice program has allowed students to access better schools and spurred competition between districts, but the 27-year-old choice law should be updated to ensure the program’s continuing success, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

Download "Inter-district Choice in Massachusetts"

“By providing a way for school districts to fill empty seats and allowing them to have sufficient enrollment to sustain niche programs, inter-district choice is a vehicle for delivering better and more efficient K-12 public education,” said Jamie Gass, director of Pioneer’s Center for School Reform.

In Inter-district School Choice in Massachusetts, author Roger Hatch writes that districts choosing to accept choice students receive $5,000 plus any additional special education costs from the sending district.  When the special education increment and the Commonwealth’s two virtual schools (which are funded through the choice program and have an annual tuition rate of $6,700) are included, the average tuition was $6,123 in fiscal year 2017.

The choice program has grown steadily, from less than 1,000 students in FY 1992 to over 16,000 in FY 2017.  Admission is by lottery if districts are over-subscribed.

Inter-district choice enrollment is capped at 2 percent of statewide public school enrollment and currently accounts for 1.71 percent of overall enrollment. If the program continues to grow at its current pace, it will bump up against the cap in the next four-to-six years.

A Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) analysis of 2014 MCAS scores found that, on average, choice students outperform resident students in the accepting district.

Inter-district choice is most popular in rural areas and on Cape Cod.  Choice students account for half the enrollment in Petersham public schools and over 40 percent in Richmond and Provincetown.

Because students are counted in the sending district’s state funding allotment, known as Chapter 70, certain school districts realize an overall funding increase even when they lose students to another school district.  In these 70 districts that receive the bulk of their education funding from the Commonwealth, the $5,000 choice tuition is less than their per-pupil allotment.

Noting that the tuition payment has never gone up in the program’s 27-year history and that state and local budgets have more than doubled during that time, Hatch recommends that the $5,000 payment should rise and that policy makers should reach agreement about the increments and pace of the increase.

“We need to strike a balance that incentivizes high-performing school districts to accept school choice students but maintains the fiscal stability of sending districts,” Roger Hatch said.

He also recommends raising the cap on program enrollment, which is set at 2 percent of statewide public school enrollment.

No regulations have ever been promulgated for the inter-district choice program.  Hatch calls on DESE to establish regulations once the law is updated to provide guidance for districts that administer the program and parents and students who are weighing their choice options.

About the Author

Roger Hatch spent a long career working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the areas of school and municipal finance. For 20 years he was the Administrator of School Finance at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  In addition to supervising the school choice program, the office works with the Governor’s staff, the legislature, advocacy groups, local officials and the general public, to develop, calculate, and explain the Chapter 70 state aid formula.

Selectmen cannot deny the numbers nor the official record of Town Meeting:

Annual Town Meeting of May 2018.
Article 21 - On a motion duly made and seconded the Town voted to appropriate the sum of Eight Million,
Two Hundred Twenty Thousand, Two Hundred Ninety Eight Dollars and no cents ($8,220,298.00) for the operations of General Government for Fiscal Year 2019, and to meet said
appropriation with a transfer of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($250,000.00) from the Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation, anticipated receipts, and
the balance from taxation.

Article 24 - To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Four Hundred Seventy
Thousand Two Hundred Forty Six Dollars and No Cents, ($470,246.00), subject to the successful passage of a Proposition 2 ½ Over-Ride, so-called, for supplemental appropriations to the FY 2019 Operating Budget for the following departments:
Fire/EMS $290,740
Police $23,000
Insurance & Benefits $133,890
Highway $15,000
Snow & Ice $7,616
Or take any other action related thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
Majority Vote Required

added together, the articles = $8,690,544.00.

Annual Town Meeting May 2019.
Article 26 - FY 2019 GENERAL FUND OPERATING (OPEX) BUDGET
To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of Nine Million Six Hundred Ninety Thousand Two Hundred Seventy Four Dollars and no cents ($9,690,274.00) for the operations of
General Government for Fiscal Year 2020, and to meet said appropriation with a transfer of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($250,000.00) from the Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation, anticipated receipts, and the balance from taxation.
Or take any other action related thereto.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen
Majority Vote Required

$9,690,274.00 - $8,690,544.00 = $990,730.00.

That $990,730.00 is the increase in FY2020 over FY2019 of the general operating budget of Templeton and those numbers come form the selectmen.

How could a selectman tell a town resident, with a straight face, that there is not an increase of 1 million dollars in Town operating costs?

So, the selectmen put forward an increase in Town costs of almost one million, then the school district followed suit with an almost one million increase; what the hell did anyone think would happen? As a member of the Advisory Committee at annual town meeting on May 2019, the committee comments stated just that; Town Meeting know that there is a one million dollar increase in Templeton operating costs for FY2020 but at least one selectmen denied it.

Again, this information is all on the record

Looking at costs of operating a Town and a School district may require doing "business" in a different way

Templeton dispatch costs may require some research and a history lesson.

Annual Town Report of 2011, page 89 shows Templeton receiving an E911 grant of $119,204.00 and on page 90, it shows dispatch total payroll of $221,161.00 with $19,179.00 turned back in to town (as unspent).

Then on page 168, it shows Town meeting appropriation for communication commission wages of $222,995.00. Back on page 18, there is a report of communication commission and no mention of that wage figure of $222,995.00, but I believe back then, that was dispatch wages.

Now if the total payroll for dispatch was $221,161.00 and town gets a grant of $119,204.00 (Phillipston paying about $57,000.00 back then) why does town meeting have to appropriate $222,995.00? If it only costs taxpayers $37,000.00, why is only $19,179.00 turned back to the town as unspent?

Forgive me, but I lost track of which cup the pea is under.

This is some of the system I walked into when elected to the board of selectmen back in 2011. So, perhaps first question is, does the money Phillipston pays to Templeton really go directly to dispatch, or it is just general revenue to the town?

There are rules and guidelines for E911 grant funds. Have those rules been strictly followed over the years?

The breakdown of the dispatch budget does not show the E911 grant money being used as part of dispatch payroll, so how does one make the point that dispatch only costs Templetom $37,000.00?

The goal of the proposal was an effort to save Templeton tax dollars while having dispatch available. The feasibility study showed potential savings to Templeton at $89,000.00. The only real way to know or realize the outcome is to do it and that did not happen. Think of this, Phillipston is scheduled to pay $65,000.00 for the same dispatch service that Templeton gets, except they do not pay retirement costs, health insurance costs nor do they cover costs of the building improvement, but you do as a Templeton resident. If it works for Phillipston, why would it not work for Templeton?

Some more history:
2007 Annual Town report, page 83 - police department:

Dispatcher: July 18, 2006, board of selectmen voted the day to day operations of dispatch center and jurisdiction to the chief of police. Former control of the dispatch center and dispatcher fell under communication board.

In that same annual town report, there is a listing of all town employees with their salaries, (pages 97-99) why is that absent from the annual town report these days? How can people who pay the bills check on what they are told, that Templeton salaries / wages are on the low side? If you question what I post, for instance, how or where can you check on that? Is there something to hide? It would be the accounting of public money after all.

Making changes when the final numbers are not yet known.
From Massachusetts Division of Local Services.



Since a final FY2020 state budget has yet to be approved, local officials need to be aware that the July local aid distributions will be based on the amounts appearing on the cherry sheet proposals under the Governor's budget proposal.  Therefore, the Chapter 70, Charter Tuition Reimbursements and State-owned Land receipt programs will be impacted.  On the assessment side, the charter tuition assessment will be impacted.

To determine an estimate of the amount to be paid in July, you can review the cherry sheet proposals by clicking here.  Use the estimate appearing under the heading “FY2020 Governor's Proposal” (see example below).

Staff from the Data Analytics and Resources Bureau are available to answer any questions you may have regarding the upcoming July distribution. Please contact them at (617) 626-2384 or databank@dor.state.ma.us.

By GREG VINE

For the Athol Daily News

Published: 7/14/2019 9:45:07 PM

PHILLIPSTON – An article on the July 31 special town meeting warrant calls for changes in the Narragansett Regional School District agreement between the towns of Phillipston and Templeton. The most significant change would require that all children in kindergarten through grade five attend school in the community in which they reside. The district school committee would be able, by a simple majority vote, to assign students from one community to a school in the other member town in the event of an emergency that leads to the complete or partial shutdown of their home school. Students could also be reassigned if they require specialized educational services or physical accommodations unavailable in their community.

In addition, parents could ask that their child be sent to an out-of-town school, but such a move would require the approval of the superintendent.

Dr. Maureen Marshall, acting Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association Regional Schools, met with parents and members of the Selectboard at their meeting Wednesday night.

Marshall said she was told by board Chair Kim Pratt that some parents were actually hoping to pull Phillipston Memorial Elementary School out of the district agreement.

“Withdrawing pre-K to five is one option,” she said, “which would leave you regionalized – grades six through 12 – in the Narragansett School District, but functioning on your own as the school district which would be known, I guess, as Phillipston Public Schools.”

“Now, this sounds simple on its face,” she continued. “No big deal. Well, it is a big deal, because then all of the administrative functions – special ed, all the management of all the programming, all the forms you need to fill out, reports you need to fill out – that’s all stuff the central office does. All the management of payroll, of your retirement benefits – all that is done at the regional level. You would have responsibility in your local community to do all of that.”

Marshall said the town would also be responsible for filling positions such as special education director and school nurses. In addition to picking up a number of employees, she said, the town would also have to provide their health insurance. At the same time, the town would have to navigate a course for changes in working conditions and benefits for people whose pay and benefits have already been collectively bargained.

“You would see resistance to leaving their bargaining unit and the protections they have,” she added.

“Withdrawing pre-K to five not only would require state intervention – working with the state on a huge change in your regional agreement – but it would also create a lot of additional cost for the community; including lawyers as you withdrew, and lawyers to negotiate new contracts with the collective bargaining unit.”

“If you were to even contemplate withdrawing completely and being a pre-K to 12 district,” Marshall cautioned, “I would say take all of what I said times two. That would be a huge responsibility for you. You don’t even have the buildings to house the population.”

“You could also seek to withdraw,” she said, “and seek to become involved with another regional school district or, say, with the Gardner public schools, or whatever.”

Marshall said, in her experience, most towns don’t pull completely out of a district agreement.

She also pointed out that, with declining population and, therefore, declining enrollment in public schools, the state is keen to see more – not less – regionalization.

“The smaller schools are getting smaller, and the state is pressuring us to do more regionalization,” she explained. “They would love to see Quabbin and Narragansett combine, I’m sure. There’s so much that could be saved by doing that. It would be a massive region, but it would be much more cost-effective, no doubt about it.”

Ultimately, said Marshall, any changes in a district agreement must be approved by the state Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.

If Phillipston voters approve the proposed change in the district agreement on July 31, the question will have to then go before a town meeting in Templeton. It’s not known at the moment when Templeton would possibly take up the matter. In the meantime, the proposal will be sent to DESE in hopes of determining the state’s likely reaction to the change, should both communities approve the measure.