Regional committee edges toward compromise to move non‑mandated busing into operating budget and pair it with two‑thirds voting safeguard

Members of the Whitman‑Hanson Regional Agreement Committee spent most of the July meeting negotiating how to treat non‑mandated student transportation costs and which decisions should require a supermajority during a transition.

The committee’s chair opened the meeting by reviewing the multi‑step approval process for any amendment: committee agreement, approval by each town’s select board, attorney and MASC review, submission to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and final approval at town meeting. With that sequence in mind, members focused on a pair of linked proposals intended to break a years‑long stalemate: move non‑mandated busing into the district operating budget and, for the transition year, adopt a school‑committee policy that enumerated major votes would require a two‑thirds majority.

“At the end of the day we want to get this back on track and put all this animosity behind us,” a select‑board member (Select board member, speaker 6) said, urging a middle‑of‑the‑road solution. Another member who introduced a written compromise said the goal was to “meet in the middle” on transportation and make it more palatable to both towns.

Dr. Marcus (speaker 2), the district administrator who explained the budget mechanics, told the committee that if non‑mandated transportation were included in the operating budget, the district would subtract state reimbursement from the total transportation bill and apportion the remainder using the district’s standard formula (commonly described at the meeting as a roughly 60/40 split), rather than dividing costs by ridership. He said that shifting the calculation in this way could produce a one‑time distributional change in the tens of thousands of dollars (committee members estimated about $50,000), underscoring the need for transparent calculations before any board votes.

Several members emphasized that the two‑thirds rule was intended to protect one town from being routinely overruled on major, financially impactful decisions. “It’s to prevent a town‑line vote,” the chair said, arguing the measure would ensure consensus across both member towns for high‑impact items such as incurring capital debt or closing a school. Other members warned that applying a supermajority requirement to routine business would hamper the committee’s ability to function.

As a compromise, several participants proposed combining the budget change with a temporary policy safeguard: the school committee would include non‑mandated busing in the FY28 operating budget (phased so the change is fully in effect in FY29) and simultaneously adopt a policy that, upon the operating budget’s transmission to towns, the enumerated list of high‑impact votes would require a two‑thirds majority for that transition year. If the regional agreement were later fully ratified by DESE and town meetings, the two‑thirds provision would be folded into the amended agreement.

Committee members agreed to draft clear language reflecting that approach, circulate it to members and legal counsel, and reconvene. The chair and select‑board representatives said they would present the compromise to their respective boards before the next RAC meeting.

Next steps noted at the end of the session included circulating the drafted text to committee staff (to be distributed by Jen), seeking informal legal feedback, and a tentative policy‑subcommittee meeting set for 6:30 p.m. on the 29th to finalize language for board review.