May. Region 4 manages its own balance sheet independently from the towns. May. Sometimes, the Region 4 budget has gone to referendum for approval. This would be very difficult to do since there are 33 elected board of education members involved in the process, rarely sharing the same agenda. All hearings and meetings are held in public often with selectmen, board of finance members, citizens, and local press in attendance. Finally, the local and Region 4 budgets, which include their portion of the Supervision District budget, are subject to direct questioning by members of the Board of Finance and the public at hearings and town financial meetings.
Boards of finance can and do question the Supervision District cost during the review process.
While the board of finance cannot direct the board of education where to specifically cut funding, it can reduce the budget it recommends to the public to reflect its opposition to any line item in the budget, including the Supervision District allocation. It would then be up to the Board of Education to decide whether to cut funding from the local budget or seek an adjustment in the Supervision District. Communicate with your local or regional board of education members who all vote on the Supervision Budget. Attend the Supervision District Public hearing in March. He serves as an Essex representative on the Supervision District Committee.