In a report that Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press would “send tremors through school budgeting,” the town claims that the money the schools receive for educating Devens students isn’t being used to cover all the expenses of that education. Specifically, teacher benefits are fully funded by taxpayers; the schools do not contribute to benefits from the revenue they receive from MassDevelopment to educate Devens students. The report was written by town administration and the finance department and released to the Select Board, Finance Committee, and School Committee on Sept. 27.
MassDevelopment uses the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s per pupil expenditure calculation to determine how much to pay Harvard schools each year for each Devens pupil. Since DESE includes teacher benefits in its calculations of per pupil expenses, the report argues that the schools should contribute a percentage of the money they receive for each Devens student to teacher retirement; insurance for active and retired teachers; workers’ and unemployment compensation; and property and liability insurance. Those items are all currently included in the town budget and paid for by taxpayers.
According to the report, in fiscal 2021 DESE calculations included benefits as 14½% of the total per pupil expenditure of $21,006. There were 85 students that year, so had the schools paid 14½% of each student’s tuition to the town for benefits, it would have amounted to about $260,000.
Origin of the report
Select Board Chair Rich Maiore told the Press he had asked town administration to “conduct a broad review of town revenue sources,” with the goal of providing revenue projections to town boards earlier than usual. Bragan told the Finance Committee at its Oct. 19 meeting that he and Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro looked into the DESE calculation as part of their mission to determine school revenue sources, and it was “eye-opening.” They wrote a separate five-page report on the topic and included multiple supporting documents. School Committee Chair Abbe Besse told the Press the report took her committee by surprise. “We didn’t know it was being produced,” she said. Bragan confirmed that, telling the Finance Committee that the School Committee had no input. “We had all the revenue data,” he said.
But School Superintendent Linda Dwight told the Press the report contains inaccurate information, specifically the amount of annual revenue for Devens students. She said a portion of the revenue from MassDevelopment is for students attending special education schools, and that money goes directly to those schools or for associated transportation costs. Dwight claimed the annual revenue numbers used in the report included the special education money, causing the numbers to be off by as much as $1 million in some years. Bragan told the Finance Committee that’s not true. “We did not get into any revenues that are in and out with respect to special education,” he said.
Lack of collaboration?
Dwight said she’s disappointed by the lack of collaboration on the part of the town. One of the goals the Select Board set for itself this year is collaboration and communication, she said, and the schools have been trying to be transparent. She pointed to the public Devens projection spreadsheet that shows revenues and expenses since 2016, and a Devens accounting report presented to the Finance Committee last August. “This sense that we’re not doing something correctly or that we’re trying to hide something is, well, quite insulting,” she said.
Maiore told the Press he’s disappointed that school administration and the School Committee’s first response is to blame Town Hall. He said he’s not interested in pointing fingers but is looking for self-reflection. Not only is it a problem that taxpayers are funding teacher benefits for Devens students, he added, there’s also a transparency problem, and he would like to fix both. He acknowledged that there’s a debate about the revenue numbers, but he said the bigger problem is the lack of transparency. “As a lay person, do you find the school budget easy to understand?” he asked. He said he is trying to get “the right folks in the room and figure out how we got here and what we’re going to do.” Those folks include Maiore, town and school administration, and the chairs of the School Committee and Finance Committee. He said scheduling conflicts have prevented that meeting from happening yet.
For the benefit of all
Dwight said she understands that the town would like to get some money back for benefits, but Devens money is frequently spent on items that support every student in Harvard, not just Devens students. For example, in fiscal 2022, the schools used more than 15% of Devens revenue for technology equipment leases. In the past five years, Devens money has also been used to fund capital projects, such as renovating the science labs and kitchen, paving the parking lot, and repairing the HVAC system. The schools are also contributing a total of $1 million over a five-year period toward the new elementary school debt. Some of that contribution will come out of the Devens Fund reserves, where unspent MassDevelopment money is deposited each year; the reserve account currently contains close to $2 million.
The town is also questioning the schools’ practice of transferring unspent money raised and appropriated from taxpayers into that same account. Besse said the reserve account allows the School Committee to take care of projects that pop up mid-year like the Ryan Land and Ann Lees softball field renovations. “We haven’t had to go back to the town for more money in the last 11 years,” Dwight told the Press.
After Bragan presented the report at the Finance Committee’s Oct. 19 meeting, Chair Jennifer Finch said the committee would discuss it after the meeting with the schools, town administration, and pertinent board chairs takes place. She added that while the committee might make a recommendation, any decisions would be up to the Select Board. “It’s their budget. They’ll either end up taking our advice or not.”
