School Committee, Select Board start talking override to aid Grafton Schools

The numbers, graphs and charts spoke for themselves, but Superintendent of Schools James Cummings tried to clarify them before a joint meeting of the School Committee and Select Board.

Grafton’s schools, in summary, are facing a financial crisis. And while an override of Proposition 2 1/2 was brought up in a general way throughout the discussion, Select Board Chairperson Jennifer Thomas finally asked the blunt question.

“I personally would never not put something to the voters,” Thomas said. “Do you want an override?”

It’s the question, historically, that no town board wants to ask. But the general consensus of both the Select Board and School Committee  Wednesday was that an override needs to be part of the town’s discussion going forward.

Grafton last held an override vote in 2014 for Fiscal Year 2015 — the town’s first override of Proposition 2 1/2 since its passage back in the 1980s.

Cummings noted the school system has one of the lowest per pupil spending amounts — $12,760 — in the state but has maintained a high “return on investment” by continuing to have well-performing students.

“No superintendent in their right mind would aim for that bottom number,” Cummings said.

The schools have maximized funding through transportation fees ($140,000 annually), solar panels, the school choice program ($500,000 annually), and building specialized programming to retain children with special needs as well as bring in children needing that programming from nearby towns.

“I think people think we have millions of dollars in pens and pencils and stuff,” Cummings said. “Most of it is in personnel.”

Cummings compared Grafton’s school budget to comparable towns, flicking through slides (see above) until he came to his five year projection of school cuts if funding does not increase.

The reduction scenario would cut 40 positions in the next five years, primarily teachers, and create considerable cuts to athletics. This will happen even if the School Committee approves athletic fees — Grafton currently has none — which could potentially bring in about $60,000-$90,000.

“You’re trying to make reductions without hurting kids and each of these years, that gets harder,” Cummings said,

There’s a compounding issue — special education costs are unpredictable, mandated by the state but not funded, and rising, resulting in cuts to general education without additional funding. With Grafton not having a large commercial tax base, the funding burden falls on residents.

Grafton voters may have voted for an override in 2014, but other districts in similar situations haven’t been as fortunate. Eight communities with a per-pupil spending rate near Grafton’s have seen overrides fail, in some cases multiple times.

“The territory we’re in, the very bottom — it’s override land,” Cummings said. “This is our challenge. We need to get out of the basement.”

School Committee Chairperson Laura Often said School Committee members have been lobbying Grafton’s legislators, state Rep. David Muradian and state Sen. Michael Moore, as well as working with education groups in the state.

“It’s a very unique, very unfortunate situation that the residents face… it’s not even something that our representatives did,” Often said.

Select Board member Ed Prisby noted that Proposition 2 1/2 was voted in during a very different time and it may be time to change the law. The recent passage of the education opportunity act benefited most communities that have never had to face a single Proposition 2 1/2 override.

“Middle class Massachusetts is absolutely getting left behind… when we raise taxes, we do it in the most regressive way possible,” Prisby said.

Select Board member Donna Stock, who along with fellow member Peter Carlson previously served on the School Committee, said she keeps looking at the per-pupil funding levels for Grafton and surrounding towns in shock. Westborough and Shrewsbury’s rates have also gone down in the past decade, she noted.

“I’m just trying to understand what factors these communities have that have created this change,” she said, asking if there are any revenue sources the schools haven’t tapped.

“We can’t charge for everything.,” Often answered. “We’re a public school system. We can’t say ‘oh, we’re now going to charge for AP classes.’”

“Are there opportunities that we missed that could have prevented us from getting to this place? No,” Prisby added. “You’re not going to get there with cuts to administrators. You aren’t going to get there with sports fees.”

“We’re one town. We have to work together. You say ‘you guys,’ but it’s going to affect everyone,” Often said.

“Funding education could be one of the best economic development tools that we have,” Prisby said.

The combined boards will meet again on Jan. 14, 2020. Should an override vote occur, the next Grafton election and Town Meeting are in May.