GREENFIELD — A portion of the town’s “free cash” surplus will likely be used to deal with an $850,000 shortfall in the special education line item of the Greenfield School Department, driven by unpredictable out-of-district tuition.
Town Council Vice President Isaac Mass said Friday he expects the Department of Revenue to certify roughly $2 million in “free cash” by early next month, part of which will likely go toward the school budget gap.
“I assume some appropriation will come from free cash once it’s certified,” he said. “We’ve asked the School Department to do whatever they can within their budget to take care of it for this year. If there needs to be a partial appropriation, I think the council would be willing to do that.”
Mass said town leaders have been working on budget issues within the School Department for several months and will continue to meet until a resolution is reached. He said they’re taking the issue as an opportunity to stabilize special education for this year, next year and the long-term, as well as some other financial variables within the School Department, which makes up two-thirds of the town’s budget.
“We’re hoping to use this as a real opportunity to get some changes in the way the town and school cooperate on various business functions, to be more effective both for education and the taxpayer,” he said.
Earlier this month, Mayor William Martin directed the school department’s administrators to put together a short report on how out-of-district costs are affecting the district’s operations, with the intent to send it to state leadership in an appeal to reform the formulas used to reimburse local districts for those unpredictable costs.
School Committee Chairman Timothy Farrell said towns like Greenfield act as hubs for many of the county’s health care and social services and that means they tend to have more out-of-district students. The town is responsible for educating each student who resides in town and all costs associated, even if they must be transported to and educated at a specialized school based on their education needs.
While the average per pupil spending in Greenfield is around $14,000, costs for those students needing specialized education can range from $20,000 to $400,000, according to school Business Administrator Howard Barber.
“Obviously, communities like ours come under a lot of pressure and strain because of out-of-district (expenses). In a community that doesn’t have those services, you’re not going to see as many special education students,” Farrell said. “There are so many unknowns that can pop up at any time, and the costs are extreme.”
Farrell said he thinks the state’s system for reimbursing those costs needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking each district’s particular circumstances into consideration. He said the reimbursement rates can fluctuate each year.
“You can’t count on it, and you can’t have a one-size-fits-all solution,” he said. Farrell said he’s optimistic the Town Council will support a supplementary request, and discussions during the budget approval process in the spring indicated that the council had planned on having to do so.