ROWE — The town education budget is set to jump roughly 6.5 percent or $111,300 next year to $1.7 million total.
The School Committee approved the budget Thursday. However, an incorrect tuition figure submitted to Rowe by Mohawk Trail meant the budget increase was expected to be nearly 9 percent at the time. Superintendent Michael Buoniconti sent a revised tuition rate Friday.
According to North Berkshire School Union Superintendent John Franzoni, which Rowe belongs to, the hike was caused by an increase in Mohawk Trail’s tuition fees, plus salary hikes and job additions at the elementary school.
Rowe Elementary School’s budget is $1.21 million, up 3.1 percent or $36,737 from 2019. School salaries are mainly driving these increases – teachers salaries are set to rise 2 percent and a business administrator was hired, Franzoni said.
The cost of middle and high school – which Rowe does by tuition as it is not a member of any upper-level school district – is another cause of the town’s education budget spike. Mohawk Trail, the school most Rowe students attend, increased its tuition fee by 4.8 percent.
Next year, 21 students from Rowe are attending Mohawk Trail, up 19 students from the 2018 to 2019 school year. The total tuition cost hike is 21 percent, from $372,842 up to $446,786. Per student, tuition rose $800, from $17,107 to $17,927. Mohawk’s total tuition costs are jumping by $74,709, from $301,758 to $376,467. Mohawk’s transportation costs are set to jump 4.3 percent or $2,410, up to $58,494 total. Late bus costs are rising by 3 percent to $15,450 total.
According to Mohawk Trail Superintendent Michael Buoniconti, the part of the reason for budget hikes is a consistent lack of state funding. Buoniconti has led efforts to lobby state legislators to increase rural school funding by adding a rural aid caveat to the education formula, Chapter 70. He testified before the joint Education Committee on Tuesday on this matter.
“The state is funding less and less of the school budget,” Buoniconti said. “Because aid has been flat, the towns are paying more and more.”
Two students are expected to attend Franklin County Technical School this fall – the same as the 2018 to 2019 school year. Franklin Tech tuition fees are expected to rise 1.7 percent or $644, for a total cost of $38,400.
The elementary school is projected to have 74 students enrolled next year, up 10 students from this year, Franzoni said. Of those students, 27 live in Rowe while the remainder are from outside the district. Principal William Knittle wrote a letter this school year supporting out-of-town students “choicing in” or paying tuition to enroll at Rowe Elementary.
“The debate about the benefits and challenges of accepting choice students is an important one, and one that the school administration and the School Committee have looked into thoroughly,” Knittle wrote in the letter. “We believe having choice students at Rowe School makes it a vibrant and energized school, one in which our Rowe students are able to flourish academically and socially.”
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280.