BUCKLAND — If Heath town meeting voters agree with the town’s Educational Task Force recommendation, Heath will close its 21-year-old elementary school and pay tuition to send its grade-school children to either the Hawlemont Regional School or the Rowe Elementary School.
But the task force, which has been meeting weekly for nearly a year, would also like Heath to stay with the Mohawk Trail Regional School District as a full pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 member town, even though its elementary children will be going to an out-of-district school.
Under this plan, Heath would continue to pay an assessment, with the tuition cost as part of that assessment, and it would continue to have a full-member vote on the Mohawk school district committee. Heath officials also hope their continued membership in the regional district would mean that elementary school bus transportation would be eligible for regional transportation reimbursement in state Chapter 71 aid.
The task force and many town officials explained what they’re recommending — and why — at the Mohawk Trail Regional School District meeting this week.
Heath Elementary School enrollment dropped from 50 students last year to 29 this year, which is not financially sustainable, considering the $1 million budget to run the school.
“We tried our best to listen to our school parents,” said task force member Ken Rocke. He said the goals were to: “Keep our children together. Not too difficult (school bus) transportation. And keep our options open.”
Rocke said the town wants a place where all its children can go to school, including the preschool children, and they don’t want the youngest children having a nearly hour-long commute to school. He said all the Mohawk schools they visited were suitable, but the length of time spent on school buses was the primary obstacle. Both Hawlemont and Rowe have the closest elementary schools to Heath.
Task force members said a tuition agreement would enable the town to “keep our options open,” in case the tuition agreement doesn’t work out. “The town needs to know it will have a place for our children,” said Rocke.
Task force member Budge Litchfield said fashioning a new elementary school regional agreement with either Hawlemont or Rowe “could take years — and we don’t have years.” Besides, it would involve regional agreement changes with Mohawk that would require unanimous votes of all eight member towns, not to mention state support and special legislation.
The other concern for Heath is that the town needs to know it will save money by closing the school. For instance, if the town must pay for heat and electricity until a tenant could be found, that cost may offset the savings of closing the Heath Elementary School.
The task force must: estimate the likely savings of closing the school; calculate, negotiate and agree on an out-of-district tuition rate; calculation any additional transportation costs; and calculate the costs of upkeep for the school building unless another use for it is found.
So far the task force, Heath selectmen and Finance Committee have approved this recommendation, but the majority of Heath residents needs to approve it at a town meeting. Then the Mohawk School Committee and district towns must also approve of the tuition arrangement as a change in the Mohawk regional agreement. Furthermore, changes to the eight-town Mohawk regional agreement must then be approved by the state commissioner of education and it may require special legislation.
Because Mohawk’s BEST (Building Educational Sustainability & Trust) Committee has been looking for ways to reduce district costs, some member town officials have been hoping to see budget reductions next school year, if the school closes, But task force members hinted it may not happen that quickly.
“We know there’s pressure about the budget, but this is our kids,” said Rocke. “We want to do this once — and we want to do it right.”
Later, when asked if Heath’s transition would be done in time for the 2017-18 school year, Litchfield said, “I’m not opposed to the idea, but I’m skeptical we can get it done by then.”
From the 1960s until the early ’90s, Heath tuitioned students to the former Rowe Elementary School, until Heath’s growing enrollment was capped at 90. The newly built Heath Elementary School opened in 1995 with 116 Heath children and expanded to 124 Heath and School Choice students by 2001. Enrollment dropped to 81 students by 2010 and to 29 this year.