By Curt Peterson
On Oct. 5 WCSU board secretary Rayna Bishop posted a request for bid proposals for snowplowing three district campuses: Prosper Valley in Pomfret, Woodstock Elementary, and the Woodstock Union High School/Middle School. The bid deadline is Oct. 28.
The topic is timely because a two-year moratorium on state penalties for school district overspending is expiring and will not protect the district’s FY2024 budget. The board is working on that budget.
Board member and chairman of the WCSU buildings and grounds committee Jim Haff of Killington, explained that “who does the plowing” may affect education taxes within the district.
The state Agency of Education determines both a target per student cost cap, and the number of “equalized pupils” in the district. The WCSU board has developed its budget to be at, or below, that target to avoid penalties.
The final district budget will be divided by the number of equalized, non-tuitioned students — but for every dollar in excess of the cap the district would have to return a dollar to the state, so to increase $1 in the penalty phase requires $2 to be raised.
That excess would have to be made up in spending cuts or higher taxes or both. School district -sponsored snowplowing of each campus would make it more difficult to avoid the threshold penalty.
Bishop confirmed the three other towns hosting schools, Killington, Reading and Barnard, will be using their town’s equipment and crews to clear the school properties this coming winter, relieving the district of that financial responsibility.
Haff said plowing the Killington campus costs $30,000 to $40,000 a year.
Barnard, Reading and Killington put the campus snowplowing in their municipal budgets. The snowplowing cost would be the same no matter who pays for it; shifting the cost to the municipality helps the school district with its finances and saves money for district taxpayers.
WCSU Buildings and Grounds Manager Joe Rigoli said, “We have met with the town of Woodstock and they have declined to plow at Woodstock Elementary.”
“We have inquired about the possibility of the town of Pomfret plowing Prospect Valley,” Rigoli continued, “and are hoping to engage with them shortly.”
Haff said Killington has been plowing its campus for some years and will continue to do so, as it is in the interest of the taxpayers.
Barnard’s Rob Ramrath told the Mountain Times the plowable driveway at Barnard Academy is designated a town road (TH81) so the town plows it as a matter of course.
Some consider the Middle School/High School campus different, as students come from all seven sending towns —why should Woodstock’s crew plow “everyone’s snow.”
Haff said the budget and any penalty are calculated on a district basis — what Killington does has the potential of affecting every town’s taxes, and any money the district saves on plowing the MS/HS will do the same. The Mountain Times reached out to Reading, Pomfret and Woodstock, but did not received a response prior to publication.
