Acton-Boxborough Full Regionalization Discussed at Forum

The educational and financial impacts of a fully combined Acton-Boxborough school district were discussed at a public forum of the , which drew a handful of residents to the Parker Damon Building on Wednesday evening.

Charged with studying the viability of expanding the current 7-12 regional school district to one that encompasses pre-kindergarten through grade 12, the six-member committee has met regularly since forming in September to discuss the implications and effects of a full regionalization, with an ultimate goal this year of asking residents from each town to vote on whether it should continue its study.

Also among the committee’s charges, said RSDSC co-chair Peter Ashton, are to research and evaluate possible amendments to the current regional agreement as well as to seek input from stakeholders from both communities, including administrators, PTO members, and parents—“anyone we could find to talk to about the impacts of full regionalization,” he said.

The study is driven in part by demographic trends that show a decline in both towns’ elementary-school-aged populations, expected to continue at least through 2020 and “only very modestly” rising at that point, said Ashton, who presented the committee’s to-date findings.

And while a full regionalization would seem to involve only incorporating one Boxborough school, Blanchard Memorial School, into the district, the administrative, and potentially emotional implications are much greater, said committee members.

Under the present agreement, the current structure of three separate school districts and school committees—those for each town as well as for the combined A-B 7-12 school district—creates the need for distinct records, human resource operations, and financial management systems as well as “a lot of duplication of effort,” said Ashton.

According to the committee, fully combining the school districts would mean streamlining such operations, potentially resulting in better service, more transparent financial reporting, and more consistent benefit management for employees, among other advantages.

Such administrative streamlining would be the main benefit of a full regionalization, said RSDSC member Kristin Hilberg, who told meeting attendees that she has presented committee findings to each Acton and Boxborough elementary school’s PTO except for Douglas and that while the majority of parents in attendance have expressed an open mind, some have voiced concern that their schools could lose their autonomy and identity under a full regionalization.

“At some schools, parents are very supportive,” she said. “Others were concerned that their schools would lose their personality and that curriculums could be flatlined.”

But ultimately, she said, if administrative functions are streamlined under a full regionalization, “that could be a real opportunity.”

APS School Committee Chair Michael Coppolino, who attended the forum, agreed, attributing the mixed feelings to “more of a fear of change than the reality of our intent.”

The committee said its study has identified cost savings and potential additional revenue of $695,000, which includes administrative cost savings of about $150,000 as well as some $520,000 recovered in transportation revenues from the state, which reimburses a portion of transportation costs to regionalized school systems.

The total potential cost benefits represents one percent of a projected $70 million budget—“not a huge number, but still significant,” said Ashton.

But Ashton emphasized that the educational experience under full regionalization would remain consistent, with emphasis placed on perceived benefits like shared curriculums and enhanced professional development opportunities.

“We don’t foresee any changes to the overall educational structure,” said Ashton. “The number of options simply increase. (We’ll) have six schools instead of five.”

What’s more, he added, “(with regionalization) we might be able to maintain some programs we might not have (under the current agreement).”

The discussion wrapped with a reiteration of the committee’s intent to include items on the ballots for both Acton and Boxborough’s Town Meetings, to be held in April and May respectively, that will ask voters for feedback on a full regionalization.

“The vote this year is not to go forward with regionalization, just (for voters) to tell the committee whether there is a sense to go forward with the agreement for the 2012 Town Meeting,” Ashton said.

The full slide show presented at the forum is available in the PDF on the right. As well, the RSDSC will hold additional public forums at the Boxborough Town Hall Grange on March 29 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.