Changes in Regional School Regulations

This post is about a local issue that will also affect other regional school districts in Massachusetts.

The Mass. Department of Education is proposing changes to the regulations (603 CNR 41.00) governing the budgets of regional school districts in the Commonwealth. These changes will negatively affect the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and the Up-Island Regional School District.

The basic change would establish the “statutory wealth” formula – rather than the regional agreement - as the primary method of allocating costs among the members of a district. The regional agreement can be used only if all members of the district agree; otherwise, the “statutory wealth” formula is to be used, provided at least two-thirds of the members vote to approve the cost allocations as calculated by this formula.

Tyranny of the Minority
Requiring the use of the regional agreement to allocate costs only if each and every member of a district agrees will result in situations where a single member can effectively reject the cost allocations for all members. The number of voters in that town, the share of the costs that town bears, the number of students from that town – all have no bearing on whether the costs will be allocated according to the long-standing agreements that have been carefully devised and refined over the years. The Department of Education is concerned about the tyranny of the majority. The proposed regulations can result in a tyranny of the minority.

Complex, Time Consuming and Expensive
In any particular year some members of a district are likely to benefit from use of the wealth formula, while others would prefer that the regional agreement be used. The school administration would have to prepare two assessment calculations, which, in turn, requires each town to vote twice on the school budget at Town Meeting. Further, the choice of the wealth formula or regional agreement may change each year for each town, which means that the costs and time of dealing with two alternative assessment formulas will be come an annual burden.

While it is possible that a single member can negate the terms of the regional agreement, it is not certain that the required two-thirds of the membership will approve the cost allocations as determined by the wealth formula. In the event that the cost allocations under either the wealth formula or the regional agreement are not approved by the requisite number of members, the Department of Education is proposing a relatively complex procedure to reconsider and eventually approve the cost allocations. At a minimum, this procedure would require another Town Meeting, resulting in more time and money spent and, possibly, having ripple effects on other town financial issues, such as setting the tax rate.

An Imperfect Science
The wealth formula is based on enrollment, property values and median income of a town. Property value does not include any exempt properties, such as churches or federal lands. Median income is based on the address entered on tax returns, which address may be that of the town in which you live or the town in which you receive your mail or the town where your accountant has his office. To quote someone quite knowledgeable in the matter, “Unfortunately it's an imperfect science, with no way of perfecting it.”

Hence, instead of the clear terms and definitions of the regional agreements, cost allocations under the wealth formula are based on property values that may not include all of the property in a particular town and median incomes that cannot be properly allocated to a residence.

The proposed regulations will weaken regional school districts to such a degree that many districts will dissolve.

The Board of Education has asked for comments on the proposed changes. I urge you to send your comments to the Board at 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5023 and to our Senator, Robert O’Leary, and Representative, Eric Turkington, at the State House, Boston, MA 02133. The Board will be voting on these changes on October 24, 2006.