ATHOL—A preliminary version of the FY24 school budget shows a focus on curriculum improvements to all grade levels, as well as a look ahead.

Superintendent Matt Ehrenworth and Business Manager Leah Jack met with the Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee on Jan. 10 to give a preview of the Athol Royalston Regional School District budget being proposed for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Information given the committee did not include specific line-item amounts, but did provide an overview of the instructional and operational priorities for FY24.

Ehrenworth stressed that the overall proposed budget of $35.5 million is a “very preliminary” figure. The amount includes anticipated School Choice funds totaling $250,000, Circuit Breaker funding of just under $819,000, and $2.4 million in grants. It represents an increase of approximately 14 percent over the current fiscal year’s budget of $31.3 million.

The superintendent said instructional priorities for FY24 include the maintenance of “academic and emotional supports,” purchase of new English Language Acquisition curriculum at the elementary school level, vertical alignment of the curriculum from prekindergarten to 12th grade, review of the science classes, professional development, implementation of an early college program and Innovation Pathways programs for students interested in advanced manufacturing or health care careers.

Regarding the early college program, Ehrenworth said, “In our grant programs, we were awarded early college grants and we are starting some dual enrollment programs. We have some dual enrollment but we’re expanding our early college and career programs.”

Ehrenworth added that he is currently working on improving the school district website.

“I’m hoping to potentially have a presentation on that at the next school committee meeting,” he said. “Our website is woefully out of date and really not conducive to accessing anything. So we’ve purchased and new one and we’re working on the mock-up right now.”

Future plans for the schools

Moving on to next fiscal year, the superintendent said priorities include a transition in the district’s financial software in order “to have some redundancy and make sure the platform is off-site and online,” a possible changeover in student information systems, ceiling repairs at Athol High School, a full assessment of district facilities, development of a long-term capital plan and possible submission of renovation plans to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

Relative to this last item, said Ehrenworth, “I’m starting to have concerns regarding the population density in the area. There are new housing developments coming into the community and, quite frankly, our elementary school is almost already at capacity.

Ehrenworth said the first step in the process is a facilities assessment, and the next is bringing the community together and identifying the district’s programming needs, what makes the most sense for configuration of the grades, the buildings and then determining if anything is necessary.

The whole process, which includes a district assessment by the MSBA and several other steps, would take five or six years to complete before any work was begun.

However, Ehrenworth explained, his immediate priority is repair of the ceilings at the high school.

“That will be relatively costly,” he continued. “Probably in the $400,00-$500,000 range. However, I can’t have ceiling tiles dropping on students’ heads for the next five to six years while we’re seeing if we can get a new building built – or renovations done – to accommodate the population.”

State funding changes

Jack pointed out that, while the district is anticipating Chapter 70 education funding in the amount of nearly $22.4 million, that figure ultimately depends on the budget being put together by newly sworn-in Gov. Maura Healey. The district also foresees a significant jump in Circuit Breaker funding, from $409,000 this year to just over $818,000 in FY24.

“For the Circuit Breaker, we are anticipating an increase in revenue going into next year, not specifically for our special education expenses,” said Jack. “For our Chapter 70, given the increases in low-income funding for students in that population, we are anticipating an increase in our Chapter 70 aid as well.”

In response to an inquiry from committee Vice Chair Ben Feldman, Ehrenworth explained, “Circuit Breaker is a reimbursement that the district gets for some of the special education expenditures…Circuit Breaker sets a threshold where, if the student costs the district…more than $46,000, the state will reimburse typically about 75 percent of the cost above that $46,000.

“When we see that increase from $409,000 to $818,000 it’s like, ‘Wow! We’re going to get a lot of extra money to work with.’ Actually, that $818,000 is a reimbursement for the money we had to spend last year. Chances are it’s now at $818,000 because those same kids have those same services, they’re in the same out-of-district placements, and we’re probably going to use all of that money to pay for the same level of services to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the students.”

As the process moves forward, Ehrenworth and Jack will be meeting with town officials in both Athol and Royalston, refining budget projections, and presenting a more detailed proposal at an all-boards meeting scheduled for March 8. While the deadline for certifying the budget is April 26, Ehrenworth anticipates that step will be completed by April 12. Final approval will come from the voters at the respective annual Town Meetings—Royalston on June 10, Athol on June 12.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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