Harwich Wants School Committee Review Of Regional Agreement

 HARWICH – The select board Monday approved a letter to the Monomoy Regional School Committee emphasizing that the five-year mark for reviewing the regional school district agreement is approaching and requesting that the school committee initiate a review of the document.

 Monomoy Regional School Committee Chair Meredith Henderson, a Harwich representative, said during Monday’s meeting that the regional agreement will be the topic of discussion in the committee’s first strategic planning workshop, scheduled for Thursday evening.  

  The select board’s letter stressed that it “is fully prepared to focus on the long-term viability of the funding formula and the method of assessing costs within the district. We believe that a thorough review of these aspects is critical to ensure the continued financial health and sustainability of our regional school district.”

According to the letter, the board is fully prepared to assist and collaborate in the review process and is open to scheduling a joint meeting to discuss financial needs and expectations in detail.

 Select Board Chair Donald Howell said there is a legitimate concern that increasing school funding is going to impact the town as well as the operation of the school district. Harwich’s share of the annual cost for the district is 76 percent based on the foundation enrollment, while Chatham contributes 24 percent.

Henderson said she could not speak for the school committee, but her personal goal this year is to deal with the situation. She said she sees how the funding issues are affecting her town, adding that there needs to be a conversation with Chatham.

Everyone needs to understand the regional agreement, how the two towns came together, how the assessment agreement is calculated, and what the foundation assessment and enrollment looks like, Henderson said. 

“I believe most members of this committee believe we need to have this conversation and be on the same page and bring it to Chatham,” Henderson said. “If it doesn’t change, there is going to be some negative impacts that will affect the Harwich students, but also the Chatham students.”

“The big point we’d like to make is it is not us whining about what is and is not fair,” said Howell. “Within our town budget we’ve got eight union contracts we’re trying to negotiate and we’re at 97 percent of a tax levy. It starts with us, but it will have an impact some day on the schools, and the quality of education they will be able to give.”

Howell said he sees the possibility of a sequence of overrides, and Harwich does not want to get to that point.

“It really isn’t as hostile as we shouldn’t be paying that much, it’s about what is sustainable,” he said. “It’s about how we can move forward together with the same quality of schools without bankrupting everybody.”

 Select Board member Mark Kelleher suggested an ad hoc committee be established, including members with a financial background, to look at the financial segment of the agreement. Board member Peter Piekarski disagreed, explaining there are experts within local government who do this work every day. He said the purpose of the letter is to get the discussion going..

Select board member Jeffrey Handler emphasized the need for the select board and the school committee to communicate on a continual basis and exchange information in real time, he said.

“The school committee has information we don’t have, and the select board has information you don’t have,” Handler said to Henderson. “We need communication back and forth.”

Henderson said one of her goals will be to sustain communication in a timely manner,