MVRHS budget subcommittee prepares to recommend FY 2018 budget

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In the latest version of the school budget, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) operating budget will increase roughly $998,000, or 5.4 percent, for the fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018). The MVRHS budget subcommittee met on Monday, Nov. 14, to discuss the fifth version, in preparation for voting on recommending it to the full committee.

There will be a public hearing on the FY 2018 proposed budget on Monday, Nov. 28, at 6 pm at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center, located at the high school. The MVRHS school committee will vote on certifying the budget on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7 pm.

The total operating expenses for FY 2018 are approximately $19.6 million, compared with about $18.6 million in the past fiscal year. Total revenue and reimbursements, primarily from the state, totalled $2.4 million, leaving roughly $17.4 million as the proposed assessed expense to the towns for FY 2018 — a 5.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

In a conversation with The Times on Tuesday, Nov. 15, MVRHS finance manager Mark Friedman said that the bulk of the increase came from a rise in health insurance costs, totaling nearly $334,000. The Cape Cod Municipal Health Group, the provider for MVRHS, estimated an increase between 8.5 and 11 percent in medical benefits costs. The budget is based on an estimated 10 percent increase.

Other increases pertained to contractual obligations, which include salaries and union agreements, and totaled over $300,000. Retiree benefits and other postemployment benefits (OPEB) saw an increase of about $105,000.

The operation and maintenance of MVRHS facilities was another expense that increased about $162,000.

Residential-care tuition, which provides money for students with intensive needs that cannot be met at MVRHS, increased by about $243,000.

The school does not anticipate major changes in positions or programs. No new positions have been added, and existing staff will be used to meet new needs. Mr. Friedman told The Times that MVRHS is committed to its programs and classes, and that it looks only to be more “efficient with scheduling.”

Maritime studies is a program still somewhat new to the school, and as it expands, its budget will grow by $12,000 for FY 2018. The program deals with people’s connections to the world’s waterways and watersheds, and is taught by Sail Martha’s Vineyard.

“I think this is an area that we’ve neglected over the years,” Jeffrey “Skipper” Manter said. Mr. Manter, critical that night of many of the line items in the budget, said he hoped to expand the maritime program. “We’re one of the few school districts, probably in the country, that is completely surrounded by water, and we’ve never had an actual firm program to deal with maritime studies. I think this is just the beginning.”