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SPENCER – Town Counsel Janelle Austin of K-P Law told Selectmen on March 10 that any challenge of the state’s required school spending formula would be costly and unlikely to prevail in court.
She made the remarks after researching prior challenges since the early 1990s brought not only by communities but also students and families.
“A chapter 70 challenge to the public school financing system is unlikely to yield a positive result,” Austin said.
She said there is a reluctance by the courts to address the issue, preferring that communities deal with it as a political rather than legal matter.
At a previous meeting, the Board of Selectmen directed Town Administrator Jeff Bridges to consult with town counsel on measures the town could take regarding the funding formula set by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
“You wanted to take the Commonwealth to task on its overbearing requirement and go over ideas to provide justice at the local level,” Bridges told the board.
The required school contribution is calculated by looking at the specific property values and income wealth of a community to determine how much of the budget should be funded from local property taxes. Chapter 70 state aid pays for the remaining amount.
“What the state wants us to give one agency (the school district) is more than what we can raise in property taxes every year,” said Selectman Ralph Hicks. “It’s an insane rule.”
Selectman Tony Pepe added the town is being “forced into a Proposition 2 ½ override– mentioning good things to bring forward like public safety,” because of the school charges.
Austin noted that prior “robust challenges,” have spanned over many years and through appeals only to have the state file a motion to dismiss. She spoke of one trial judge receiving 1,000 exhibits, hearing testimony from 114 witnesses and issuing a 318-page findings document on a case filed by students.
The board asked town counsel to give the administrator the list of communities involved in previous cases as well as information about the filings.
Pepe said the thought process should continue and one option is to petition for a review of the makeup of the district.
“There’s no breathing room,” noted Selectman Gary Woodbury, adding the district became regional with the state saying it would provide 100% funding. “That’s a breach of contract. The state just didn’t hold their end of the bargain and passed it on to the towns and cities…There has to be an avenue to fight these people.”
Hicks said it would be “an uphill fight,” spanning five to 10 years to create a new district, such as adding North Brookfield, which is “out by themselves.” He called the possibility, “very limited.”
He noted, “There are people who don’t want to give up purple and white…They want their own high school where 25 to 30 kids graduate. It makes little sense.”
When Pepe brought up the alternative of dissolving the district, Hicks replied they would lose $600,000 to $700,000 in transportation reimbursement and be required to pay partial building costs to other communities.
Woodbury said every budget time, the board talks about the same thing. “It’s not a month of talking…It has to be a continuous thing.”
Pepe said the town should be future thinking and plan beyond the short-term.
“It is why we could never get to a 10-year plan. There’s an elephant in the room,” Woodbury said. “It’s an every year elephant.”
Bridges noted later in the meeting that the state’s Chapter 70 local aid amounts to $9.1 billion out of a $59.6 billion budget. “Where is the other $50 billion going?” he asked.
Returning to talk about the school contribution, Hicks said it is not the school district’s fault and that the DESE is the one who sets the formula.
“We need a grass roots revolt,” Hicks said, noting they should rally communities from “the Berkshires to Cape Cod,” that are experiencing the same budget problems to challenge the state.
“The state has treated us worse than Cinderalla was treated by her step-sisters,” he added.
