Central Berkshire RSD dips into E&D funds to save towns money

DALTON – After a three-and-a-half hour-long meeting, the Central Berkshire Regional School District (CBRSD) has moved forward its fiscal year 2014 budget of $25,814,865.

An initial vote on the budget saw it fail due to concerns about the town assessments previously reported on in The Beacon. The first vote had a simple majority of 9-4, but 10 affirmative votes (two-thirds of the school committee) are required for the budget to pass.

“We need to figure out how to pass this tonight,” School Committee Chair Shawn A. Armacost said.

After additional discussion, the decision was made to take $150,000 from the district’s excess and deficiency (E&D) funds to decrease the overall town assessment figure. The E&D funds consist of unrestricted reserves saved for unplanned or emergency future needs.

Prior to that night’s vote, the budget had already appropriated $1 million from the E&D funds, as pointed out by School Committee Member Michael J. Hopper.

“The school committee can do what it wants with the excess and deficiency,” said CBRSD Superintendent William J. Cameron, adding he thought the committee was “gambling” that the economy will suddenly start to boom in the district’s member towns, indicating there could be implications on the FY ’15 budget.

“I think it’s a mistake to dig into the budget like that,” added School Committee Member John J. Les, who said he approved the shift in an effort to get the budget approved.

After that amendment to the FY ’14 budget, it passed with the necessary two-thirds approval, with only John F. Conner opposed.

Additional concerns raised

In addition to concerns about the town assessments and dipping into E&D funds, members of the school committee discussed several issues related to the budget.

An overall focus on cutting programs and personnel at the district’s larger schools (Craneville, Nessacus and Wahconah) versus the smaller schools was a concern raised by various members of the school committee.

“There are too many cuts being made in the larger schools,” said Katherine Caffrey.

School Committee Member Richard J. Wagner also expressed concerns about the district’s internet capacity, saying the schools needed an increase in bandwidth (worth $19,200) to properly accommodate the student population. He moved to add that amount to the budget, but it failed.

However, members of the school committee indicated this would have to be further looked into as a pressing matter for the district.

“I think the administration needs to come forward with a way to address the bandwidth,” said School Committee Member Richard E. Lacatell. “We’re going to address it sooner rather than later.”

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on March 21, 2013. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry