Yarmouth Selectmen Preparing for School Budget Talks with Dennis

Yarmouth Selectman Tracy Post

YARMOUTH – Selectmen in Yarmouth are looking to prevent future overrides for school funding and have voted to collect data on past spending and future estimates.

Selectmen asked the town administrator provide information on cost differences for the town’s portion of the budget between the state funding formula and the regional agreement used before 2006.

Officials are not currently considering de-regionalization but want to investigate if it would be beneficial.

“What we need to understand that’s ahead of us is what would be the cost if we were to break from this agreement and go back to a system in which we were running the schools whether it was with the [regional] high school or without it,” said Town Administrator Daniel Knapik.

Selectman Tracy Post says a split from Dennis needs to be based on more than just money.

“There’s two sides to that in addition to just a cost proposal,” she said. “There is educational benefits and detriments.”

Selectmen from both towns will meet in June to discuss a new regional agreement.

Current costs for the district are based on enrollment from each town.

Yarmouth’s share of the regional school budget have been increasing in recent years due to decreases in Dennis enrollment.

“To get to a negotiation point that’ll be successful we have to be able to demonstrate to the folks that believe de-regionalization is a better way to go,” Knapik said. “We need to put all of those numbers to the best of our ability on the table so that the public can look at those with today’s dollars.

Earlier this spring, voters narrowly approved a proposition 2½ override of $570,000 to fund the town’s share of the regional school budget.