March 29, 2024

Town and School Officials Blame Each Other for Budget Defeat

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Rehoboth town officials and the Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee have lashed out at each other following Tuesday’s special town meeting. Voters once again rejected the 2020 budget despite a compromise agreement made between the Rehoboth Selectmen and the School Committee.

Now the residents of Dighton and Rehoboth will be voting on the budget on Saturday in a special district-wide meeting. The Rehoboth assessment for the school district is $19.3 million. The total budget is now $45,096,223. If that vote is not successful, the state may assume operational control of the school district on December 1.

Voters at the May 28 town meeting had rejected the school committee’s assessment for Rehoboth in favor of the finance committee’s recommendation of $18.9 million. The school department had been seeking an additional $558,797 for their 2020 budget.

Not surprisingly, Rehoboth selectmen chairman Gerry Schwall was disappointed with the vote. “The selectmen did what we were hired to do. We brought to Town Meeting what we believed was in the best interest of all of the citizens,” Schwall said, noting the School Committee failed to honor the agreement the boards had reached back in August. “They changed their mind,” Schwall said. “They walked away from it.”

In exchange for giving the School Department an additional $330,000 for the 2020 budget, selectmen had proposed $214,000 in cuts to town departments. The cuts were to include an $85,000 reduction in facilities maintenance, a $50,000 reduction in the highway department’s snow and ice removal account, a $30,000 reduction in police wages, a $25,000 in the comp buyout, a $17,000 reduction in Bristol County Agricultural School tuition, and a $5000 reduction in the selectmen’s office budget.

Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee Chairperson Katherine Cooper said she was not surprised by the vote due to the Rehoboth Finance Committee’s disapproval of the compromise agreement. “The Finance Committee has appropriated literally one thousand dollars over the state mandated minimum increase of 613,000 dollars,” Cooper explained. “Schools cannot be funded at minimum and have the education citizens expect. This Finance Committee appropriation translates to a negative -1% budget for the school district and if accepted by the School Committee would negatively impact the education in Dighton-Rehoboth.”

Finance committee chair Michael Deignan remains steadfast in his belief that the School District needs to cut their budget. “It is my hope the residents will continue to support the Finance Committee recommendation going forward by attending the 'tent' meeting this Saturday and vote to reject the proposed increase being put forth by the Regional School Committee,” Deignan said.

Last month, the school committee recalculated each member town's assessment after the state changed the Minimum Local Contribution amounts required by each town. Rehoboth will be paying an additional $60,000 while Dighton will see its assessment reduced by the same amount.

Schwall believes the School Committee caused “confusion” when they presented the new assessments at a finance committee meeting.  Schwall said he will be present at the district-wide meeting but vows the Board of Selectmen will not have an active role to play. The School Committee will be controlling the meeting. “I’m going to show up and cast my vote. That’s all we have to do with it,” Schwall added.

The district wide meeting will begin at 1 pm Saturday in the auditorium at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, 2700 Regional Road, North Dighton. Doors open at 11:30 am.

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