NORTHFIELD — A plan for the towns of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District to pay back a portion of their school system’s deficit will likely be overruled by the state, says district Business Manager Tanya Gaylord.
Specifically, the towns had planned to pay back a $270,000 deficit incurred through the school lunch program in three yearly installments of $90,000 each, divided among the four towns in proportion to how much of the district’s budget each one pays.
All four towns approved the first payment at their spring town meetings this year. But, since then, the school district discovered a larger deficit (now estimated to be $546,000, including the “lunch deficit”) and the state subsequently became involved in the district’s finances.
The state’s issue with the towns’ plan to repay the lunch deficit, Gaylord says, is that it is illegal for the school district to carry any deficit, which it would have to do for the next two years if the towns kept to their plan. Previously it was thought that the lunch deficit was offset by surpluses in other funds, so the lunch deficit would not have been a legal issue. Now, since the larger deficit was discovered, it is.
Gaylord is pushing the state’s financial overseer for the district to allow the towns to at least follow through on the first $90,000 that they already approved in town meetings. Her argument is that if the towns’ payment is allowed, it will reduce the total amount the district has to borrow, and likewise reduce the amount of interest the district ultimately has to pay.
Because the towns allocated the money specifically for the lunch deficit, they would not be able to use it for anything else until it can be re-appropriated in another town meeting.
Contact Max Marcus: mmarcus@recorder.com,
413-772-0261 ex 261.