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APRil 2016
BVT holds line on FY17 Budget Increase limited to 3% or less for seventh consecutive year Faced with significant cost-hikes in health insurance and pension obligations, the Blackstone Valley Vocational Regional School District initiated aggressive measures to decrease its proposed annual budget, including adoption of a new healthcare option, acquisition of more than $1 million in additional state grants, and reduction in non-instructional full-time staff. The District School Committee formally approved its fiscal year 2017 (FY17) budget request at its regular meeting last month, following months of number crunching, cutting, and downsizing to offset the drastic impact of healthcare and retiree benefits. The Committee first examined the budget's overall healthcare costs, which came in at an initial increase of 20 percent, or $536,000 higher than the prior year, driven by changes in premium rates and the number of subscribers. That increase was ultimately lowered to nearly 15 percent after the District worked with its insurance brokers to negotiate a more favorable rate on existing plans and impact bargained with the BVT Teachers Association to offer a new low-premium/high-deductible health insurance option. "The cost of health benefits is a challenge faced by school districts and municipalities across the state, if not the nation," commented Superintendent-Director Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick. "I commend the School Committee and BVT Teachers Association for sitting down and working together to understand all the moving parts and benefits of this new plan, which is now one of three viable options available to our system's staff." Valley Tech's proposed budget was
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further shielded from the impact of healthcare and pension costs by the acquisition of more than $1.02 Million in state grants for capital improvements and purchases. Approval of a $619,000 reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority allowed the school to self-fund a major roof repair project without asking its district-towns for additional dollars. A $407,000 grant from Governor Charlie Baker's Workforce Skills Capital Grant Program will purchase cutting-edge equipment for four Valley Tech programs, enabling the school to further reduce the FY17 budget's bottom line by removing funds for vital capital equipment purchases. The Committee also reduced staffing patterns by 3.5 full-time positions while preserving the quality of instruction, saved on contracted services by utilizing staff and student skills on internal improvement projects, and garnered temporary relief on retroactive billing of non-educator pension obligations. Finally, in an effort to further reduce the budget's impact on membertowns' assessments, the BVT School Committee voted to supplement the operational blueprint with $250,000 in available reserve funds. Fitzpatrick noted that approval of the FY17 budget request marks the seventh consecutive year in which Valley Tech has presented an annual budgetary increase of 3 percent or less. "Limiting expenditures to annual increases no greater than 3 percent is an especially impressive feat given that our system is one of only a few across the Commonwealth which have seen a steady increase in the number of students served over that same time period," Fitzpatrick said. Following School Committee approval, the proposed Blackstone Valley Tech FY17 budget totaling continued on page 14 PRESoRTED STANDARD US PoSTAGE PAID BoSToN, MA PERMIT No 55800
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MAn on A MiSSion - Michael Dunlap, of Uxbridge, (pictured above) traveled to Guatemala with his church youth group for a week-long mission trip. An unexpected encounter on a path in Guatemala has led to an opportunity to bring the mission work he did there to refugee kids currently living in Worcester. See complete story on page 12.
Community is the real story at Uxbridge Library Story by Constance A. Dwyer Energetic and passionate describe Mrs. Ann Margaret, “Ann,” Thomas, the new director of the Uxbridge Library. Her focus is to make this library an integral part of the Uxbridge community. It was during the first week after her appointment in November 2015 that she sensed Uxbridge’s welcoming nature, when a local man at the copy machine came to welcome her saying, “People in Uxbridge take care of each other.” She said, with a warm smile, “I felt so moved and every day since I have felt so special in this community and that I am so happy to be here serv-
ing them.” Ann then added, “her staff, trustees, Friends of the Library and Town Manager, David Genereux have all been supportive.” Longtime senior staff member, Carol Caffrey, of Uxbridge is a familiar welcoming face at the front desk and on the third floor is another senior staff member, Betsy Youngsman who handles historical artifacts and shares space with circulation staff member Susan Bedard. The childrens and teens room is downstairs and is handicapped accessible. Senior staff member Judy Byrnes is glad to assist you in the Children’s Room. Ann also wants readers to know
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Party Under Cover We’ve got you covered As the warmer weather greets us, many of you are thinking “party time.” If, however, you hesitate to plan your special event for fear it might rain, put your worries aside because tents, tables and chairs are available from “Party under Cover.” See story on page 33
that there is a “Youth Services Librarian,” a now open position requiring a Master’s degree in Library Science.Please see the many upcoming programs the library has to offer on page? Ann Thomas, prior to coming to Uxbridge worked at the Westwood Library from 2001 to 2015 in various positions: the Children’s Room; adult book circulation; the Reference Room and the Teen Advisory Board. The staff there encouraged her to pursue her Masters in Library Science. She did so by taking both morning and night classes as well as on-line, all depending on continued on page 17
~ INDEX ~ Town news ..............Page 4 Calendar...................Page 21 Society .....................Page 23 Senior Corner ..........Page 25 School news............Page 29 Business news........Page 33 Sports.......................Page 37 Classified .................Page 39