Ashburnham-Westminster School Committee Approves $250,000 Pandemic Savings Transfer

ASHBURNHAM — February 9, 2021 — Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School Committee votes to transfer $250,000 in pandemic savings and unveils a nearly flat FY22 budget. Meeting remotely due to a February snowstorm, the committee unanimously approved moving $250,000 from the transportation line — reduced this year by running one fewer bus — into technology infrastructure ($150,000) and out-of-district tuitions ($100,000) to cover a surge in school-choice enrollment at TECA, a statewide virtual charter school. The proposed FY22 budget is down $50,874, or negative 0.2 percent, relying on $350,000 drawn from the district's excess and deficiency fund, which holds roughly $700,000, to offset a 16 percent drop in local revenues and a near-flat Chapter 70 state aid increase of just $30 per student. Ashburnham's school assessment is proposed at $8,083,759, a 2.1 percent increase, while Westminster's rises 0.2 percent to $11,147,229. The committee also gave unanimous first-reading approval to updated anti-bullying policy JICFB, modeled on a Massachusetts Association of School Committees template, and unanimously appointed Tammy Lamacchia as assistant treasurer for the remainder of FY21, with an expected promotion to district treasurer on July 1.