While it’s not easy to come to the community and ask for a “yes” vote on an override, it represents the end of an even more difficult process. For weeks now, town board members have been weighing priorities and paring wish lists to arrive at the leanest budget possible. Harvard finds itself in the same difficult position as many towns across the commonwealth, coping with a structural deficit caused by the limitations of Proposition 2½. Many of our basic costs, such as energy and health insurance, typically increase more than 2½ percent annually. As a result, $684,000 is required to maintain the status quo in town and in our schools—what’s known as a level services budget.
Under these circumstances, requests for new spending are rigorously scrutinized. This year the schools require $74,000, necessary to replace badly needed textbooks and to hire one special education teacher for the middle school. The need for textbooks is critical. We have been funding a large portion of our textbook budget from PTO donations. The PTO raises money for curriculum enrichment; it is not supposed to fund basic necessities like textbooks. The hiring of a middle-school special education teacher marks a continuation of our efforts to provide as much specialized instruction in-district as possible. Middle school often represents a critical turning point for special education students; anything we can do to keep these students in town is the right thing to do for both the child and the family. And, keeping a child in town helps the school district’s bottom line: it simply costs less than an out-of-district placement.
The school’s request, together with the Council on Aging’s request for $12,500 (to fairly compensate the director for the 10 extra hours per week she has worked unpaid for the last several years), and the town library’s request for $15,500 to provide substitute coverage and after-school monitors, represent the $102,000 in new funding sought for the next fiscal year. In total, town residents are being asked to approve an override of $786,000. This figure represents an increase of about $596 on the average tax bill.
While there are many rewarding aspects of serving on the School Committee, dealing with the limitations of the budget is the hardest. It’s our mission to pursue and preserve excellence in all areas of our educational system, a daunting task in the best of times. When money is short, the choices are painful. The override request does not include, for example, any relief for families coping with user fees so their children can participate in extracurricular activities. Nor does it offset bus fees of between $225 and $600 per family.
Without the generous support of community members and organizations, our school system would be in even worse shape. Overrides are necessary at this time to preserve our town and school system.
This is not a predicament any of us wish to find ourselves in every year. To that end, we continue to work to fix the state education funding formula, known as Chapter 70. The inequities of Ch. 70 have been researched and publicized by me and resident Bruce Leicher, who recently brought it to the direct attention of the governor’s education staff in a meeting that included Virginia Justicz of the School Committee, Selectman Tim Clark, and Finance Committee member George McKenna. We hope that these efforts will result in a fair share of funding for Harvard. There are also actions residents can take today to help. Please visit the SOSHarvard website, www.sosharvard.org, to see a short list of easy steps that can be taken. The Chapter 70 Coalition page of www.devalpatrick.com shows how residents can add their voices to this important cause.
In addition, I also continue my work with the Suburban Coalition, trying to form alliances that will give towns like Harvard the standing of larger cities and towns when making our case for equity to state legislators. I believe that such lobbying efforts are as important as any of my other School Committee responsibilities.
While this work continues, we must preserve the town that we choose to make home. From my detailed review of the school and town budgets, I believe that the best way to preserve the services we’re receiving today is to support the Prop 2 ½ override and warrant articles 5 (COA), 6 (library) and 7 (schools). The School Committee and the Board of Selectmen unanimously support the omnibus budget as presented. I ask residents to carefully read the warrant booklet that will be arriving in the mail later this month, and join me in voting in favor of the omnibus budget and related additional spending warrants at Town Meeting on March 29, and in favor of the override at the ballot box on April 1. Thank you very much for supporting our town.
Stu Sklar, of Scott Road, is a member of the School Committee.
