Town Council debates school funding options, considers independent review of district operations

Council members express support for $849,000 school budget increase while exploring cuts to general fund and discussing operational audit to rebuild public trust.

BRIDGEWATER - June 30 - The Bridgewater Town Council expressed unanimous support for funding the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District's post-election budget during a special meeting Monday night, while also advancing a resolution calling for an independent operational and financial review of the district.

The school committee certified a $98.6 million budget last week that requires an additional $849,000 from Bridgewater. The council has 45 days from Friday to approve the budget, with a deadline of Aug. 9.

Council President Johnny Loreti said the town needs to "do everything that we can out of our general budget funds to fund this" rather than seeking additional revenue from taxpayers who rejected an override in June.

"My personal view is that we need to do everything that we can out of our general budget funds to fund this and like I said, do everything that we can," Loreti said. "But I am one of nine of us."

The school budget represents what Superintendent Ryan Powers called "option one" following the failed override votes in both Bridgewater and Raynham. The budget includes significant cuts, with teachers reporting class sizes of up to 35 students and special education programs facing compliance issues.

Deep Funding Challenges Emerge

Several teachers spoke during public comment about the inadequacy of the proposed budget. Casey Rodrigues, a special educator, said her classroom will have 22 transition-age students, which is "10 over the legal limit and four more than I've had the past two years."

"Make no mistake, this will be a hard year after a hard year after a hard year before it," Rodriguez said. "And we're going to need a better plan for the 27-28 school year."

High school English teacher Eric Hoy said his projected class size is about 35 students across five sections, giving him a caseload of approximately 175 students. "That's about 50 more than I typically have," Hoy said.

The council debated whether to use the town's stabilization fund or find cuts in the general budget. Several councilors opposed touching the stabilization fund. Councilor Sonya Striggles said using those funds would set a dangerous precedent.

"If we dip into it once, it will become precedent," Striggles said. "We dipped into it once, so let's keep dipping into it."

Councilor Sean Kennedy agreed, saying the failed override represented taxpayers' decision not to raise taxes. "This is kind of a decision by the taxpayers to not raise their taxes to fund that school system," Kennedy said.

Audit Proposal Advances

The council voted 9-0 to keep a resolution requesting an independent operational and financial review of the school district at the council level. The resolution would ask the school committee to commission a third-party review to identify potential inefficiencies and cost savings.

Loreti said preliminary conversations about similar work in another Massachusetts town suggested costs around $50,000 to $60,000. He emphasized this would be "not an audit" but rather "an operational financial review of how the district runs."

"Whatever we could do to rebuild some of the trust that our residents have in our local government, I think that we should do," Loreti said.

Kennedy supported the review, citing concerns about compliance issues. "We were told we will be in compliance and now we are being told by teachers that we are not going to be in compliance," Kennedy said.

However, Councilor Paul Murphy expressed reservations about the council directing another elected body. "Asking another elected body or any body within the town that we don't have direct purview over seems like we're walking a really fine line," Murphy said.

Public Voices Concerns

During public comment, several residents addressed both funding and accountability issues. Shannon Cambria, whose daughter was accepted into West Bridgewater's school choice program, said Bridgewater Middle School "only offers music for seventh grade and art for eighth grade" compared to West Bridgewater's more comprehensive offerings.

Donna Jewell raised questions about $550,000 in school district expenditures for which she said she has not received adequate public records documentation despite multiple requests.

Rodrigues cautioned against implying the district's problems stem from mismanagement. "I am wary of the implication that the school district is in this position because of mismanagement or poor spending," she said. "We are here from chronic, chronic underfunding of the school district."

Next Steps

New Town Manager Justin Casanova-Davis began work on Tuesday, July 1 and will need to prepare a supplemental appropriation order for the school funding. Both Bridgewater and Raynham must approve the school budget, or it could trigger state imposed funding, a joint district-wide town meeting, and, potentially state control of the school district.

Watch the complete meeting courtesy of the Town of Bridgewater.

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