SchoolCom talks numbers with Pols
Published on May 30th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - Any time you have state legislators sitting at your School Committee's table, you can pretty much bet the discussion will be largely financial. That was the talk of the night on Wednesday when representatives from the Stoneham, Wakefield and Melrose school committees sat down with State representatives Mike Festa and Pat Natale for a round table discussion about the struggles these school systems face with regard to funding. State Representative Paul Casey also joined the meeting.
In addition to the inequity and insufficiency of chapter 70 funding for districts such as these whose costs are skyrocketing, the topics of special education and charter schools brought other issues to light.
According to Festa, both the House and Senate have preliminarily agreed to another $220 million in Chapter 70 funds, some of which will be pulled from the state's rainy day fund.
"This is one of those years where we can't do as much as we want, but were not feeling desperate...it's not that bad," Festa said regarding the state budget that has seen an increase in actual revenues over expectations, though expenditures are up as well.
"We're in a structural deficit," Festa said about the net result.
State representative Patrick Natale agreed, adding what cities and towns have been preaching all along.
"We mandate things at the state level but we've got to come through for the cities and towns,"
Two top concerns where this is concerned are in the areas of special education and charter schools.
While ever changing special education mandates have long crippled local budgets, the practice of private institutions raising tuition rates mid year and demanding timely payment from cities and towns who were not apprised of the increases during budget development, is something local school systems want the state to correct.
As it stands now, as long as private special education facilities petition the Department of Education and demonstrate a need for an increase in tuition, they are then free to pass those increases on to school districts and expect payment immediately.
"These cost increases happen mid year when our budgets are set. We don't have supplemental budgets," said Stoneham School Superintendent Joseph Connelly.
Festa agreed with the sentiment that these institutions should not be allowed to increase rates mid year.
Another area where school districts are hurting is in the assessments made to charter schools.
The concern of the group is that since charter schools are publicly funded and local districts are assessed for each student from its district who attends, those schools do not have its hands tied by the same state and federal mandates that public schools have.
"I think were all in agreement that public education needs to be reformed," said one representative from Melrose. "One of the nice things the charter schools have been able to do is start that reform process because they are not bound by the same rules we are."
But unlike charter schools, she continued, public schools do not have the benefit of a longer school day, longer school year, free transportation and free all day Kindergarten.
"What steps will be taken to start leveling the playing field so that traditional public schools can start reaping the same benefits?"
"There is a cost associated with doing some of these things like longer school days," said Melrose School Superintendent (and former Stoneham Assistant School Superintendent) Joe Casey. "We have the capacity, teaching know-how, and desire to make a difference in lives of our students, but what we don't enjoy is level of support to help us move to the next level."
Another Melrose representative stated that when she sees the charter school (namely the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School which serves a number of towns including Melrose, Stoneham, and Wakefield) advertise its free all day kindergarten program in the local paper "when we have just had to raise our full day Kindergarten tuition again...that's a real issue. It's not an anti-charter school thing, it's let's treat them like the public schools they are and equalize that funding opportunity for everyone."
"If state feels that the value (of charter schools) is there, and obviously it does, then you have to fund it and you can't fund it at the expense of the other schools."
"I"m not against charter schools," said Natale, "but if we're going to mandate this, we've got to give the money to the cities and towns. Charter schools should not effect the money that the cities and towns are getting."
"The fight over charter schools is over and we need to recognize, and I do, that they're there, and we need to support them, and they do good work, but the conversation needs to now shift to the impact on the fiscal dynamics," Festa agreed.
A larger problem, according to Festa, is the backseat American education is taking to that in other countries, that 20 years ago fell well behind us.
"We're at a sputnik stage. We will find ourselves pretty quickly in the situation where kids we educate are not going to be able to compete."
However, the overriding characteristic of American society that cannot be duplicated, he said, is creativity and innovation.
"It's the nature of who we are. If we play to that strength, we can overcome the other stuff..I have sense that the charter schools have offered us an opportunity to really step back...and look at our education model."
And to the issue that towns like Stoneham have been particularly hard hit by an inequitable chapter 70 state funding formula, Natale said he and others have not forgotten that.
"We're going to continue to keep working and try to raise the numbers for everybody...We're moving in the right direction. I really believe that."
Notes: Fulchino's discusses expansion
The town's Board of Selectmen caught its first glimpse of an expansion plan for the Main Street Exxon Mobil gas station across from the Stoneham Middle School last night.
According to the attorney for the petitioner, his clients want to tear down the existing kiosk at the site, which is located under the station's existing pumping canopy, and replace it with a 2,100 square foot convenience store.
New gas tanks would be installed under the station's concrete pad, and the business itself would be reconfigured to have eight pumps, two less than presently exist. The petitioner is also reportedly proposing to close-off the curb cuts along Central Street, the bordering roadway closest to the Middle School.
The new store would be erected at an adjacent property acquired by the corporate oil giant over a year ago.
That property, which has housed a burnt-out, one-story, hair salon for a number of years, has long been the source of aggravation for town officials concerned with such an eye-sore being located in such a prominent spot.
"It's just that it takes a long-time to plan for these things, a lot longer than even companies like Exxon Mobil would like," said Wellesley attorney Michael Pierce of the nearby parcel, which was acquired over a year prior by his clients.
Questioning how the redevelopment didn't trigger the need for a special permit from the Planning Board, Selectman Frank Vallerelli, a former veteran Zoning Board of Appeals member, pointed out that a new building was being constructed on the property. The site itself is a non-conforming use because it sits within a neighborhood business district.
"It's as if its an amendment to a pre-existing site plan approval. That's my understanding," Pierce responded.
"Well, more importantly, it's not the same lot. It's different now," the Selectman countered, referring to the incorporation of the neighboring land parcel.
According to Selectman Robert Sweeney, he wanted to see a site design that was more in line with New England architecture, such as a building that clapboard type look.
Because Selectman George Seibold was absent at the meeting, and a super-majority or four-fifths vote is required for the site plan to pass, the matter was continued until May 29.
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