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By ANDREW MARTIN
Hopkinton and Richmond voted unanimously, and vehemently, at their council meetings this week to oppose a state senate bill that would result in a loss of $12.7 million in state aid.
The bill, S2650, also named the “Fair Share Education Funding Formula,” focuses on sending more money to the urban schools in the state. As a result, less funding would go toward the rural and suburban schools. Also, it would aggregate the three towns in the Chariho Regional School District – Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton – and the aid would be dispersed equally.
Basically, the bill would eliminate the regional bonus for regional school districts. For Chariho, it would equate to a loss of $12 million. The district gets $14.8 million now, but under this bill, it would only receive $2 million. According to Richmond councilor Henry R. Oppenheimer, there would be total loss in Washington County of $37 million.
Oppenheimer brought the situation to light at the Richmond council meeting on Tuesday, May 20. “I guess [the bill] is fair in the eyes of the beholder, but in my eyes it wasn’t very fair,” he said in reference to the bill’s title.
“It says that it cannot be disputed that this new system would enhance fairness and equality. If I lived in Providence where [state aid] goes up, I might believe that. But not one Washington County town would get an increase,” Oppenheimer said.
The councilor then asked to have a strongly-worded letter written to the town’s legislators opposing the bill and any other legislation of its kind in the future. Also, Oppenheimer said he wants the town to be notified any time a bill like this goes before the General Assembly.
Hopkinton council President Vincenzo Cordone asked to have a similar letter written at the Monday, May 19 town meeting.
Cordone shared many of Oppenheimer’s views on the bill. “This would be a disaster for Washington County if this happened. The bottom line is it would cripple us and this would be the kind of thing that would force people to leave the district,” he said.
Council Vice President Beverly P. Kenney said she read through the bill and was also against it. Councilor Sylvia K. Thompson called the bill “a scheme.” The motion was then made by councilor Barbara Capalbo to send the letter.
The School Committee also voted unanimously to write a letter stating its opposition to the bill at its April 22 meeting.
Committee member Deborah Jennings expressed the urgency of shooting down the legislation. “I think it could be the biggest hurdle our district will face for a number of years,” she said.
While he agreed with Jennings, committee member Andrew Polouski wanted the letter to have stronger language about the school district’s opposition. Also, he requested that area legislators inform the committee and the three town councils whenever a bill like this enters the House of Representatives or Senate.
Committee member Robert Petit echoed Polouski’s thoughts. “We need to start taking a stand. We need to send a letter saying we’re flat-out opposed to this and let them know we’ve had enough,” Petit said.
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