EASTHAMPTON — A nonbinding “good faith” statement establishing a collaboration, further understanding and communication between city government and the school department was unanimously approved by the School Committee Wednesday during an emergency meeting.
“I’m really excited to start working together,” School Committee Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski said at the meeting. “I think this is an important statement of partnership between the mayor’s office and the School Committee — it’s historic.”
The emergency meeting was called after Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said at Tuesday’s meeting she intended to file complaints against the School Committee under the Open Meeting Law, which she did Wednesday (see accompanying story).
The agreement states that the school department will pay to operate the district with level services.
Provided that the City Council approves Mayor Nicole LaChapelle’s $48.5 million proposed budget, the agreement states that the mayor will allow any appropriation request from the school department to move to the City Council.
The agreement grew out of extensive budget discussions at School Committee and City Council meetings that became increasingly contentious after LaChapelle first presented her budget of $17.89 million budget for the school district.
Her proposal, approximately $560,000 less than the school department’s request of $18.45 million, represents a 4.63% increase from the current year’s budget, compared to the school department’s proposed 7.91% increase.
The budget was slated to voted by the City Council on Wednesday night.
The agreement also states that the City Council will work with the school department to appropriate funds necessary to maintain a level-service budget and will not consider the presence of reserves to be a disqualifying factor when discussing appropriation requests.
With the agreement, the School Committee and City Council intend to form a joint committee of their respective finance committees, which will meet quarterly with the goal of furthering understanding and communication between the two boards.
LaChapelle and City Council President Homar Gomez signed the agreement on Tuesday.
LaChapelle said while she did not look at the document like it was “the Magna Carta or the Constitution,” she did find value in creating and signing the agreement.
“I think this is a really great opportunity,” she said. “And in echoing Cindy’s comments, I think it shows that we can all have each other’s backs.”
She clarified on Tuesday that the agreement was a statement of “good intent and collaboration.” Any signature from the City Council or the school department would not be on behalf of either legislative bodies, because this was not part of a public process, she said.
Kwiecinski jubilantly stated she would sign the agreement following the Wednesday afternoon meeting.
Although the agreement was initially intended to include Superintendent Allison LeClair’s signature, she declined after seeking advice from legal counsel and the state Association of School Superintendents.
LeClair said she felt like the version of the agreement she received was something she perceived as more of a draft and was not the cleanest version that could be put forward.
“I am not going to be the one that puts myself on the line for this issue,” she said. “I would not recommend a signature from the School Committee on the original version of the document. … I’d rather get it right than rush to sign something. I think the document is still unclear, but it sounds like that ship has sailed.”
However, Gomez says he disagrees with LeClair’s assertion.
“I have to disagree, I think it’s perfect. It didn’t make everyone happy, that’s why it’s perfect. I think it will support the schools. We do believe in public schools — I do believe in public schools,” he said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution in support of the agreement. Also at the meeting, councilors approved LaChapelle’s request to create a school stabilization account that she said will specifically address gaps in level service budgets.
Councilor Dan Rist commended Gomez and Councilor Thomas Peake for their efforts in helping to create the agreement and have it approved.
“You both going out there and finding a way through this very technically complicated process — that’s leadership,” said Rist.
With the agreement, the city will also be issuing a request for proposals for an external auditor to perform an independent review of the school district with a goal of better understanding the financial health of the city, the resources available to the school department and alignment with best practices, according to the agreement.
The agreement also states that the School Committee will work with the administration to develop a financial forecast for the district.
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
