Brewster Elementary Schools, Regional Budgets Present Possible Overrides

BREWSTER – Taxpayers could face three overrides this spring following the presentation of school budgets Monday.

With a town operating budget override looming, an additional two more proposed overrides were presented Monday at the joint finance committee and select board meeting to account for increased school operating costs. While nothing has been voted on by the select board, the town operating override is proposed at around $850,000. That number could increase if the select board decides to combine the town operating override and the school operating overrides. 

 The additional overrides for the elementary schools ($180,000) and middle and high schools ($540,000) could increase the amount of an override to a little over $1.5 million.

 Cape Cod Tech’s budget is up 4.5 percent, the combined Brewster elementary school budgets are up 6.06 percent and Nauset middle and high schools are up a combined 4.18 percent. 

 In past meetings, Town Manager Peter Lombardi said that an increase in school budgets above 3 percent would result in an override.

 Nauset school officials said most of the increase in the budgets is not due to new programs or hiring but expenses the schools cannot control such as health insurance for employees and retirees, pension and retirement costs, building insurance, transportation and special-education services.

 Eddy Elementary’s proposed operating expenses sit at just under $5.2 million, while Stony Brook Elementary expenses are about $5.6 million. 

 “When we started this budget process, we were given that very clear directive from the town that the levy capacity was expected to be 3 percent and that remained constant,” said Brewster School Committee Chair Katie Jacobus. “And just to acknowledge the hard work that the principals went through to meet that number. There are a lot of things that did not get in the budget that’s presented to you tonight and I think that’s worth mentioning.”

 Lombardi clarified that the 3 percent increase is “exclusive of fringe benefits,” non-wage compensations offered to employees in addition to their salaries. 

 “Pension and health insurance is up 11.5 percent,” he said. “We were accommodating that within our levy limit budget, which when you look at the 3 percent operating increase and 11.5 percent fringe increase for the elementary schools equates to about a 4.8 percent increase.” 

 One of the major goals for the committee was to expand the world language program from Stony Brook Elementary to Eddy Elementary. Along with additional budget cuts, that was one of the programs that had to be scaled back in order to keep the budget growth under the levy capacity. The resignation of the instructor aided in the decision, school officials said. 

 Dahl mentioned that moving forward with the regionalization of the elementary schools may help in providing shared resources. The regionalization study has not officially been delivered yet. 

 Assistant Town Manager Donna Kalinick said the most important thing that needs to be communicated to the public is that the school committee’s budget, as presented Monday night, would result in an override of approximately $180,000. This would be the third request for an override from the elementary schools in the past five years, she said. 

 Lombardi said that although this is the third override request, it is not without sacrifice in terms of deciding where to prioritize funding for Stony Brook and Eddy Elementary. 

 School officials also talked about declining student enrollment across the Cape. Fewer students can actually make budgets harder, not easier, they said. This is in large part due to the need to still operate the buildings and provide core services.

 Robert Rogers, a member of the finance committee, asked about the hypothetical scenario in which residents don’t support the override for the elementary school budget. School officials said the additional cuts needed would likely affect personnel. 

 “I just have to say, I remain concerned and have been concerned with the continuing escalation of these override requests in light of declining enrollment,” said finance committee member Bill Henchy. “If you’re going to come in with an override, it seems to me that you have to do everything you humanly can to avoid it, and I see that [the elementary school committee] worked very hard to do that. That’s why I’ll vote to support this one. I’m not so sure I feel the same way about the region.”

 The total combined operating budget for both Brewster elementary schools, including fringe benefits, is just under $14 million. The select board voted unanimously to recommend the budget at town meeting, while the finance committee voted 7-2 against. 

 For Nauset Middle and High School, operating expenses are up about 1.7 percent, but the reason the total budget is up almost 5 percent is because the school committee is reducing the reliance on excess and deficiency, or reserve funds, said Lombardi. Last year during the budget process, the school committee used about $1.75 million of excess and deficiency funds to pay for a bulk of operating expenses. Lombardi said there were concerns last year about building a budget using “one-time money.” 

“I think reducing our reliance on that, as a region, is certainly something that makes sense long term,” he said. “We knew that it was creating a structural deficit, and now we’re dealing with its impacts.”

Lombardi said there have been discussions about changing to a three-year rolling average for enrollment, which will help all member towns better prepare for enrollment shifts. It is almost impossible to develop a financial forecast when the towns don’t know what enrollment will look like year to year, he said. 

Kalinick said the proposed regional budget for the middle school and high school will require a $540,000 override for Brewster residents. The last override the region had was in 2023. 

Henchy noted the addition of a new role at Nauset High School, the director of communication and community engagement. He questioned why a new position would be added, one that Brewster would be paying about $17,000 for. The cost of the position itself is about $89,000, said Superintendent Glenn Brand. 

 Jacobus said the joint school committee, a body of about 30 members, discussed the position at length and ultimately decided it would be a huge benefit as kids move through the school system. Currently, she said the communication feels disjointed from one school to the next. 

 Dahl asked two members of the regional school committee, Tom Fitzgibbons and Chair Judith Schumacher, to commit to reshaping the budget if the override fails at Brewster town meeting. Lombardi said if the other three towns approve the budget, the school committee is not required to reassess. This would mean the funding would need to come out of the town’s operating budget or go back to town meeting for a revote. Fitzgibbons and Schumacher refused to commit to revisiting the budget. Fitzgibbons is the Brewster representative on the board, while Schumacher is from Orleans.

 Schumacher said they would not revisit the budget if three out of four towns approved it because it would be favored by the majority.

If the town operating override stays at $850,000, that will be a 12 cent increase to the tax rate, which will equal about a $90 increase to the average homeowner. This doesn’t include the two school overrides. 

 Discussions will continue at the next two select board meetings, but ultimately a decision must be made about how this will be presented on the warrant by April 6. There is a chance the board will combine the overrides into one large sum, but no formal decisions have been made.