A miscommunication on a Town Meeting funding article has created some complications for the town, especially for Dartmouth Public Schools and the Department of Public Works. 

As written, Article 5 on the Fall Town Meeting warrant would authorize $1.5 million in funding from surplus revenue, or free cash, toward necessary projects and expenses in town. The funding choices are based on a report from the Capital Planning Committee. 

However, two key projects in Dartmouth Public Schools were left out: repairs for the leaky high school roof, and upgrades to school fire systems, which the fire districts say are necessary. The Department of Public Works also needs funding for repairs to a pump heating system.

At its Sept. 18 meeting, the Select Board voted to move Article 5 onto the Fall Town Meeting warrant. That was the last time the board met before the deadline for adjusting the warrant passed.

This puts the town in a tricky position. At the Oct. 2 meeting, Select Board member Shawn McDonald initially raised a motion to create a separate special Town Meeting in November to get the funding through, but then came up with another solution: because DPW’s heater fix and the high school’s roof repairs can both be considered “unforeseen” problems, the Finance Committee can transfer money from its reserve fund for the projects. Then, at the June 2024 Town Meeting, the town can fill its reserve fund back up from funding sources that require Town Meeting approval.

As for the fire system upgrades, the town plans to ask the fire district if the funding can be allocated in the Spring. 

The move did not require a vote by the Select Board, but the board will get an update on the potential solution at its Oct. 9 meeting.

While the solution is relatively simple, understanding how the town got in this position is anything but. 

Capital Planning Committee member Bruce Brooks said the priority of these projects was not clearly communicated to the committee. 

“You must have been presented with a capital plan that wasn’t fully vetted and fully done,” Brooks said. 

Town Administrator Shawn MacInnes said all committees agreed in May that schools would forego the funding for capital projects after the town was able to provide a one-time budget increase for the schools. 

Select Board member Heidi Silva Brooks said she regrets not taking more action to sort out whether every department’s urgent projects were included in the funding article: “This is a bad look,” she said.

At its Sept. 25 meeting, the School Committee took the Select Board to task about the oversight of school district projects.

“I can’t say I’m too thrilled with the direction that the town’s deciding to take with the school department,” said School Committee Vice Chair Chris Oliver.

“It appears that the town does not have in its purview the school department as a priority,” said Chair Kathleen Amaral. “Do you not want to be a community that has young families moving in, do you not want to be a community that invests in the future of this country?”

Initially, the School Committee and Capital Planning Committee worked out a deal to place an amendment on Article 5 at Town Meeting that would authorize the transfer of funding for the fire system upgrades from a special reserve fund — a fund meant to be used if kindergarten classes returned to half days. 

That might sound like a dangerous fund to pull from, but Assistant Superintendent James Kiely said the fund was created before it became clear that kindergarten could never realistically return to half days, at which point contributions to the fund ceased. However, the School Committee did discuss using those funds as protection against future budget crises. 

Though the committee unanimously agreed to move the money from the kindergarten fund, the amendment is now irrelevant; according to MacInnes, the town’s attorney made it clear that such an amendment would not be legal at Town Meeting. 

Still, under the current plan, the kindergarten fund may still be used to refill the reserve fund at Spring Town Meeting, effectively paying for the roof repairs. The entire problem underscores the need for more long-term planning, said Select Board Chair David Tatelbaum, and the potential benefit of the new long-range planning committee.