A budget meeting with school officials and municipal officials from Hampden and Wilbraham is set for Feb. 12 at Minnechaug Regional High School.
WILBRAHAM - Selectman Robert Russell told the other board members that school officials are struggling to come up with a level services budget for next year that meets the budget parameters the two towns of Wilbraham and Hampden can afford.
Robert Russell “They are looking at a mid-March budget,” Russell said of school officials.
A budget meeting with school officials and municipal officials from Hampden and Wilbraham is set for Feb. 12 at Minnechaug Regional High School.
Russell said he had one suggestion that could help the school budget process in future years.
Of the two towns, Hampden has the first Town Meeting - the last Monday in April.
It might make sense to hold the Town Meeting later so the school budget could be developed with the best possible state aid figures available, Russell said.
“We don’t want to use bad numbers” in setting the school budget,” Russell said.
The date of the Town Meeting in Hampden is set by a Hampden bylaw which would have to be changed. He suggested that Wilbraham officials see whether Hampden officials would be interested in changing the bylaw.
The Wilbraham Town Meeting also is set by a bylaw, which states that the Town Meeting be held the Monday before the third Saturday in May.
Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee Chairman Peter Salerno said school officials will have to approve a recommended budget by March 11.
In the meantime, school officials are negotiating collective bargaining agreements and seeking “fair and affordable agreements,” Salerno said.
Last year one-year contracts were ratified between the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District and teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff.
School officials said the contract resulted in a cost savings to the district of $600,000.
The teachers received a 1 percent cost of living raise, but agreed to forgo all step increases for the year.