Residents approve budget in second vote

GOSHEN >> The 2017-18 budget for Regional School District No. 6 was approved this week, with support from Goshen and Warren residents outweighing concerns from Morris.

The $19.24 million budget was approved 796-352, according to Goshen First Selectman Bob Valentine and Morris First Selectman Tom Weik.

Goshen and Warren residents supported the budget by margins of 400-52 and 240-19 respectively, while Morris residents sought to reject the financial plan for a second time, with 281 voting no, and 152 voting yes.

This was the second referendum on the 2017-18 financial plan for the Region 6 schools, which serve the young people and fam-

ilies of the three communities.

An initial proposal from the Region 6 Board of Education, totaling $19.44 million, was rejected on May 2 by a vote of 350-426.

The vote was driven largely by Morris voters, who submitted total 419 votes, 324 of which were to reject the proposal.

Following that vote, the Board of Education reduced the 2017-18 proposal by $197,170, according to documentation on the district website, which cut it to $19.24 million — a 1.74 percent increase.

Valentine and Warren First Selectman Craig Nelson subsequently voiced their support for the revised proposal last week.

“If we cut it more ... we are going to, without question, cut into what is necessary to run our schools educationally, and so we start to cut into the educational necessities of our school system,” said Valentine at the time. “We should be very, very careful in what we do beyond this.”

“Personally, I think we’ve already started cutting too much on this budget,” said Nelson. “It’s a very tight budget to start with, and to shrink that down any more ... it just goes right for the programs and the students.”

Under the approved proposal, Warren will pay $3.33 million toward the Region 6 budget — a drop of 1.03 percent over the current year. Morris will pay $6.64 million — a 2.58 percent increase — while Goshen will pay $7.34 million — a 2.32 percent increase.

Morris has faced particular financial pressure in recent years, as the amount of Education Cost Sharing funding flowing from the state to the town was cut by more than $537,000 between the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.

All three communities have seen the amount of state funding dwindle in recent years.

Before the budget was proposed by the Board of Education, the three first selectmen asked that the planned request be cut to a three-percent increase, down from the 4.35 percent increase under consideration.

Enrollment in the regional schools, according to Region 6, is expected to fall by nine students for the coming year, from 768 to 759.