Occasional showers with a thunderstorm possible. Low around 65F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Occasional showers with a thunderstorm possible. Low around 65F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Construction of the new Pentucket Regional Middle and High schools as it looked in early spring.

Construction of the new Pentucket Regional Middle and High schools as it looked in early spring.

WEST NEWBURY — Education costs are crushing small communities and one local resident is calling for a meeting of state legislators to see what can be done about it.

The Pentucket Regional School District administration is looking at cutting eight teaching positions, as well as making other reductions, after its School Committee approved a proposed $48.7 million operating budget May 10.

The School Committee initially approved a proposed $49.2 million budget in March but Proposition 2½ overrides to support the budget failed in Merrimac and Groveland.

West Newbury is also part of the Pentucket Regional School District but did not ask voters to approve a Proposition 2½ override. The three towns comprise the Pentucket district, whose administrative office is in West Newbury.

Groveland Government Study Committee member Joe D’Amore is a vocal critic of the proposed Proposition 2½ overrides. He is also a former selectman, as well as a former School Committee member, and said the state’s Chapter 70 education formula is well-prepared to support schools that have a high percentage of low-income students.

D’Amore added that the formula has become less friendly to districts such as Pentucket and the three host towns can be seen as being well off financially in comparison to other cities and towns in the state.

State aid has been in decline in the Pentucket district for years, according to D’Amore, who said the regional district is facing $500,000 in added expenses, while the state is shortchanging it $144,000.

School bus companies are also having trouble finding drivers while fuel costs are climbing. The district is experiencing supply chain problems when it comes to replacing bus parts, D’Amore said.

“This creates a perfect storm with those three things hitting our towns and the state is not giving us the Chapter 70 money to help us,” he said.

With Proposition 2½ overrides becoming a potential annual event in the district, D’Amore got on the phone and called his state representative, Lenny Mirra.

The Georgetown Republican was very receptive to D’Amore’s idea of putting together a districtwide meeting to address a more permanent fix to Pentucket’s financial problems.

Parents in the area are frustrated and want to see a higher investment in their schools from the state, Mirra said, adding that older residents who own their homes are also concerned with ever-increasing real estate or property tax bills.

“It always boils down to the same thing, Beacon Hill has been shortchanging these towns year after year. People are very frustrated with it and they have every right to feel that way,” Mirra said.

The state Student Opportunity Act of 2019 was intended to assist all of the commonwealth’s school districts. But, according to Mirra, that hasn’t been the case.

“This very greatly benefited the large cities but it did not benefit small towns like those in the Pentucket district. We just don’t get as much as those big cities get and that is how the formula is designed,” Mirra said.

D’Amore said he would like to see the Chapter 70 formula adjusted to specifically address special education transportation and circuit breaker funding, which he said has been a thorn in the side of school districts such as Pentucket and the nearby Triton Regional School District.

“I would like to pull out the Chapter 70 component of the state formula and have it as a free-standing formula, based on the actual dollars that we really do spend,” he said. “This is also not a Pentucket-only issue. We are looking for structural change in the actual formula.”

Mirra and D’Amore have reached out to state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, state Rep. Jim Kelcourse, R-Amesbury, and state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, to make sure Gov. Charlie Baker hears a unified voice from the area. DiZoglio is a candidate for state auditor in 2022.

Representatives from Tarr's and DiZoglio’s offices said they would either attend the future meeting or send someone from their offices, and Kelcourse said he would also attend in person.

“The North Shore delegation has been arguing for a long time for an increase in circuit breaker, regional school bus and special education transportation funding to help cover the cost of our school districts. Unfortunately, the formula is designed to favor urban communities over suburban communities,” Kelcourse said.

Mirra said the state education formula looks at personal income and assessed home values, as well as student enrollment. A district such as Pentucket, which has seen rising home assessments with a decreasing student enrollment, can end up caught in the middle.

“We’ve lost about 1,000 students at Pentucket over the past 10 years and enrollment is a big driver in how much you get under Chapter 70,” he said.

Special education expenses have also increased about 86% over the past 10 years, according to Mirra.

Mirra said he would like to look at potential future rounds of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for possible relief.

“We want to get all the options up on the table to see what we can do for the entire district,” he said. “We should make the governor aware of how these towns are getting shortchanged and what their average tax bills are looking like. If we can’t do anything on the education end, then Beacon Hill needs to step up and do something on the ARPA end.”

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.

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