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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE - NOVEMBER 2015 STM #2 Warrant Article Analysis and Recommendations Special Town Meeting Article 2: Amend Minuteman Regional Agreement Funds Requested Funding Source Committee Recommendation $0 n/a Disapprove (1 -4) 2 Abstentions The Town of Wayland seeks to withdraw from the Minuteman Regional Vocation Technical School Dis- trict (the District). Under the regional district agreement, withdrawal requires the unanimous approval by town meeting vote of all 16 member - towns. Lexington is the only member -town thus far to have put Way - land's bid to withdraw on a town meeting warrant. If Wayland's request is approved by all the member - towns, its membership in the District would end in July of 2017. Until that time, Wayland would retain its full voting rights and financial obligations. Why does Wayland want to leave the District? At its 2015 open annual town meeting last spring, Wayland passed a motion, by a vote of 130 -4, calling for the Town to withdraw from the District. As reasons for this action, proponents cited low enrollment from Wayland, high per -pupil costs, and uncertainty regarding the upcoming school rebuilding process. Town officials claim that the decision to seek withdrawal was not a sudden reaction but reflected sentiment that had been simmering for many years. Currently Wayland is sending two students to Minuteman, although in the recent past enrollment was sig- nificantly higher. A major reason for the decline was the opening of a new Wayland high school building in September 2012. Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Wayland Full -Time Students 13.5 16 11 8.5 8.5 2 If Wayland were to leave the District, it would have a continued responsibility to contribute to the capital costs of facilities already in place. It would, however, avoid payments for already- incurred liabilities for pension and retiree health care costs (OPEB) which are currently undefined but could be large. Wayland students would still be able to attend Minuteman as out -of- district students, though only on a space availa- ble basis. The tuition would be at a rate set by the State Department of Secondary Education for out -of- district students that is currently lower than the actual per - student share of operating costs. More significantly, leaving the District would potentially allow Wayland to avoid most of the town's share of upcoming costs to revitalize Minuteman. Although it would remain responsible for all capital costs in- curred prior to leaving, those costs would be only a small portion of the entire project cost. Under current State regulations, the tuition a regional school district may charge to out -of- district students does not ordinarily include a provision for capital costs. This is important because the District is about to take on one of two major capital projects. The preferred alternative is a $114 million, MSBA- approved pro- ject to construct a new building, for which the MSBA has already committed to reimburse 40% of the costs. If the reconstruction project is not approved by the District, the fallback is to renovate the existing building without MSBA assistance at a $100 million price tag. 2