HEATH — The Selectboard is sending a letter to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District requesting more information regarding its school assessment error that resulted in a $44,443 deficit before deciding whether to move forward with a Special Town Meeting to allocate funds.
“We need a clear explanation of how each of the two assessments were calculated, both the original FY22 assessment as well as the revised FY22 assessment,” the letter reads. “Within these explanations, please also be specific about the numbers of schoolchildren included in each assessment count and why they were included.”
The letter went on to say, “We recognize that you have acknowledged that this error occurred within the MTRSD administrative offices; however, we cannot take any further action until we have clear accurate information regarding the operating assessment error.”
In February, Sheryl Stanton, superintendent of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont regional school districts, notified Mohawk Trail’s member towns that Heath had been assessed for only 10 students who were enrolled in Mohawk Trail’s elementary schools and not for the 33 Heath students who were attending Hawlemont Regional School under an unusual Mohawk Trail district agreement with Heath.
That agreement, negotiated at the time of the Heath Elementary School closure, was for Mohawk Trail to pay tuition, transportation and special needs costs for Heath students to attend Hawlemont, and to be repaid by Heath’s school assessment.
The mistaken low-enrollment calculation for Heath resulted in overcharges for five member towns — giving them a larger share of district costs based on faulty enrollment ratios. A letter from Stanton explained the mistake and corrected other towns’ assessments. Those overpayments credited back to member towns are: Ashfield, $9,476; Buckland, $12,231; Colrain, $9,621; Plainfield, $3,400; and Shelburne, $9,713.
School Committee Chair Martha Thurber attended Tuesday’s meeting where the Selectboard signed the letter to the Mohawk Trail school district. Thurber asked for a copy of the letter immediately so as to address the Selectboard’s concerns quickly.
“We are ending up in a much bigger kind of mess than any of us wants to have,” Thurber said. “I am here to plead for anything I can do.”
Town Coordinator Hilma Sumner told Thurber a Special Town Meeting would have to be called to allocate the $44,443, and the spending article would have to pass with a nine-tenths majority.
Sumner said the deficit does not appear on Heath’s books because the town received the bill after the fiscal year was over. However, Thurber claims the school district sent the bill before the fiscal year ended on July 1.
Thurber explained the school district needs to close its books soon and has no money to pay the deficit.
“We are at our wit’s end with getting it paid,” she said.
Speaking by phone on Wednesday, Thurber expressed frustration regarding the lack of progress toward settling the deficit.
“We didn’t get anywhere last night,” Thurber said, referring to the Selectboard meeting where members signed the letter. “We need to solve this problem.”
Contact Bella Levavi at blevavi@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.