School Committee Hears More on Article 51

The took no formal position Tuesday on Article 51 after hearing from its lead petitioner.

The article, which will be heard Monday by the , asks Town Meeting members to vote to have the town manager “work with the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee to take all necessary measures for the implementation of a consolidated Town-School Finance Department.”

Alan Jones, the lead petitioner and a member of the town’s Finance Committee, explained the reasons for the article Tuesday. He said it has nothing to do with the schools’ recent budget woes.

“If there’s any single thing driving it, it’s the possibility of an override coming up,” he told the committee. “A motion in this direction would improve the view of the taxpayers in the way we all handle money.

“It’s something that shouldn’t be driven by a crisis. It should be proactive, to avoid the next crisis.”

Earlier in the meeting, the town’s treasurer and tax collector, Stephen Gilligan, said he was “very much opposed” to the article.

He said if the School Committee supported it, it would send the message that the committee members themselves don’t have faith that they can overcome the current budget challenges. He said the town and school finance departments already work closely, but the article would strip the School Committee of its right to control its own finances.

“It would eliminate the checks and balances that have been in place since 1952,” Gilligan said.

Jones said he envisions a consolidated town-school finance department taking at least a couple years to implement. He said the article is really meant to spark a discussion at Town Meeting about this topic.

Jones also said more towns in Massachusetts and across the country are moving toward this consolidated system.

He said the shift would not be intended to reduce staff, only to increase "transparency, efficiency, flexibility and credibility." He also said a consolidated town-school finance department would not affect department-level budgeting.

“It wouldn’t be a policy-making department,” he said.

School Committee Chairman Joseph Curro said he spoke to Barnstable’s school committee chairman, as the town recently formed a consolidated town-school finance department. Curro said the chairman told him that it all depends on how well the two bodies work together.

Committee member Joseph Curran said he did not support the article.

“I do agree with transparency,” he said, “but there are reasons the departments are set up the way they are.”