DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School District is now anticipating a nearly $2 million increase to its operating budget for fiscal 2025. 

 

This year's budget is $33,561,243, and next year is forecast at $35,391,797, a difference of $1,839,554 or 5.45 percent. 

 

District Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis told the School Committee that administrators are trying to design a fiscally responsible budget for the seven member towns while "supporting high-quality instruction" that aligns with "district resources" including "time, funding sources, human resources, and property."

 

"We feel it is important to balance, being fiscally responsible to our community, taking into consideration resources, time, human resources, resources that provide educational opportunities for students," Blake-Davis said. 

 

"While at the same time, this is our balance, this is our challenge, ensuring that all students have high quality opportunities. They're equitable, and that sounds, I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but it is a lofty goal, and it's one that we take very seriously."

 

Increases the district is expecting in FY25 are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, and Berkshire County Retirement Contribution. 

 

The active health insurance is projected to increase to $408,500 and the retiree health will rise to $138,000. 

 

"As for premium increases, we did since we met last as the full School Committee, we do have actual premium increases for health insurance for active premiums. There is a 7 percent increase year over year," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said. 

 

The district was anticipating an 8 percent increase, which it budgeted for in the previous tentative budget, so the projection went down a little.

 

"We were hoping" it would go down a little further but the Berkshire Health Group voted a 7 percent increase, Boino said. 

 

The salary line item is expected to increase by $680,000 which includes contractual increases and the addition of a full time equivalent teacher at Craneville Elementary School. 

 

A kindergarten teacher was added to the budget to ensure the school has four kindergarten classrooms instead of three, Blake-Davis said. 

 

The transportation budget has a contractual increase of $50,000. 

 

The temporary principal and interest payment for the high school is expected to increase by $121,500, but the district hopes that this is the last year seeing this line item as it will go out for bonding once the final figures are set. 

 

The Berkshire County Retirement contribution increased by 8 percent or $63,000. This is set by the retirement board, Boino said. 

 

"We will hopefully go out to bond for the remaining up to 20 percent for the [Wahconah Regional High School] project; it would become part of the capital budget," he said. 

 

The special education out-of-district tuition line item is expected to increase by $765,200 but rural aid will offset this by $380,400. 

 

Last year, there were a few students who transferred to out-of-district placements after the final budget in March, so those tuitions were not included in last year's budget but need to be included in this year's, he said during a previous meeting. 

 

The assessment from the state for the charter school tuition has a large decrease of 155,000 and the charter school reimbursement also decreased by $15,000, bringing it from $40,000 in FY24 to $25,000 in FY25. 

 

The district plans to discontinue a number of positions that were funded using federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that end this year. 

 

Becket Washington Elementary and Kittredge Elementary have two Title 1 tutors. One from each school will be discontinued as they are ESSER funded. Craneville Elementary has three Title 1 tutors, but two will not be budgeted for in FY24 as they were also funded through ESSER. 

 

In addition to that, two of the registered behavior technicians will discontinued at Becket Washington Elementary and Kittredge Elementary. 

 

"What we are doing though, is we're reallocating some of our school adjustment counselor resources to those most small schools. So, actually they will have more licensed support instead of [registered behavior technicians,]" Blake-Davis said. 

 

"So, they're actually not necessarily losing services but they are losing those two positions. As I mentioned, there's a balance, there's always a balance."

 

Nessacus Regional Middle School will be losing two positions funded through ESSER — one Title 1 tutor and a half-time science, technology, engineering, and mathematics interventionist. Wahconah Regional High School will also be losing a half-time STEM interventionist who was ESSER funded. 

 

The preliminary operating revenue projections for FY25 is $31,227,719, a $926,253 or 3.06 percent increase. 

 

The district received more in Chapter 70 than originally projected. The district will receive $9,833,858 in Chapter 70 funds, $333,858 more than FY24. 

 

As the largest of the seven communities in the district, Dalton's net assessment is projected at $9,354,110, up about $289,439 or 3.19 percent.  

 

Other projected town assessments are Becket at 2,677,450, up $83,647 or 3.22 percent; Cummington at $658,169, an increase of $9,511 or 1.47 percent; Hinsdale at $2,808,367, up $130,117 or 4.86 percent; Peru at $959,081, an increase of $55,162 or 6.10 percent, Washington at $754,233, up $8,140 or 1.09 percent, and Windsor at $880,749, an increase of $10,522 or 1.21 percent.