Sedgwick plans education forum to discuss options

SEDGWICK – The supplemental state budget has provided some additional state subsidy for the school department that has helped ease financial pressures on the system.

Local officials, however, remain concerned about continuing, long-term cuts in state aid and continue to plan for a community forum next month to discuss the town’s education options with residents.

Residents should be receiving surveys in the mail this weekend that will provide a starting point for discussion at that forum.

The town had anticipated receiving $333,824 in state subsidy, toward its $1.9 million school budget, according to Superintendent Robert Webster. Based on new state numbers, the town’s education subsidy, including debt service, will be $368,436, an increase of $25,612.

The town had anticipated a cut of $67,000 in state subsidy. The new figure is still about $32,000 less than last year, Webster said Thursday, noting the subsidy cuts are likely to continue.

“We still anticipate that the declines are going to continue,” Superintended Robert Webster said Thursday. “It appears now that they are not going to be as rapid as we feared.”

Although the school’s enrollment has declined slightly this year, the main reason for the loss of subsidy is the sharp increase in property values. State subsidy for education is based on a formula that takes into account enrollment and state valuation.

The Legislature also has adopted a measure that will prevent large losses of subsidy for towns that experience rapid increases in valuation.

Still, the town stands to lose as much as $130,000 in subsidy over the next couple of years, and the school committee has been wrestling with how to deal with the drop in state funds.

“The issue is what the town’s appetite for funding the school budget will be,” Chairman Don O’Grady said Thursday. “We have to look at what we can do to try to keep the budget under control and still provide the best education we can.”

The committee has developed a survey which Sedgwick residents should be receiving this week that asks some basic, specific questions that committee members hope will provide some guidance in dealing with funding cuts.

The survey results, O’Grady said, also will provide a starting point for discussion at a forum planned for later this month.

The survey asks for residents’ opinions on possible scenarios for the school’s future. They include short-term solutions such as consolidating classrooms and reducing the number of school buses delivering pupils, as well as long-term measures that could include negotiating tuition to a single high school and consolidating with one or more area schools.

“We’re trying to be pro-active,” O’Grady said. “We’ve nickel-and-dimed the budget all we can. We can’t cut any further without cutting into the strength of the program. Those are not decisions we want to make in a vacuum. We’re looking for guidance.”

The committee is hoping for a good turnout for the forum, O’Grady said. There will be a short presentation and then people will break into small discussion groups.

That will give everyone a chance to voice their opinions, he said. Older students will be on hand to provide child care for any residents who might need it.

The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at the elementary school.