The Mason School District budget passed Saturday’s deliberative session unchanged, along with other monetary articles on the warrant.

The total proposed budget for the Mason School District is $4.22 million. If the budget does not pass, the default budget is $4.19 million. This represents about a 7.3% increase from last year’s $3.9 million budget.

School Board Chair Colin Robinson explained to the sparse crowd at Saturday’s deliberative that the board had started from a proposed budget that would have represented an 11% increase. He said some of the costs behind that increase were fixed, including an annual 4% hike in tuition to send middle and high school students to Milford, and an increase next year in the number of students being tuitioned from 82 to 87. Health insurance costs are also up about 11%, and transportation costs are up by about 3%.

Robinson said the board decided to eliminate a paraprofessional position and reduce the school psychologist position from full time to part time to help reduce the proposal.

“There’s some tough stuff in here, as to how we got it that low,” Robinson said of eliminating or reducing staff.

The default budget is about $36,000 below this year’s proposal.

Voters unanimously approved the budget for the March 10 warrant.

The district is requesting three additions to capital reserve accounts: $45,000 for the Educating Educationally Disabled Children reserve, $20,000 for the School Building and Grounds Maintenance reserve, and $50,000 for the Tuition Capital Reserve Fund. All three amounts will come from the end-of-year unreserved fund balance, not from next year’s taxes.

School Board member Nate Choquette explained that the special education reserve currently holds about $264,000, but that if a child with severe needs moves into the district mid-year, costs associated could be as much as $100,000 or more per student, or more if they require out-of-district placement or services.

The emergency building reserve has about $106,000 currently, according to School Board member Courtney Landry. She said the district has been able to use general funds for small repairs, but the fund is to cover catastrophic costs like replacing the plumbing, roofing or heating.

The tuition reserve holds about $230,000, and the district plans to use about $80,000 from the fund in the coming year to help offset some of the increase in costs from additional students attending Milford.

As was the case with many districts this year, the Mason School District is voting whether or not to adopt an open enrollment policy. Open enrollment allows students who live in a particular district to attend other schools in the state.

The article proposes that Mason Elementary would allow up to 5% of students from outside the Mason School District to attend, and allow up to 1% of Mason students to attend other open enrollment schools. Further, 10% of Mason students could attend an open enrollment middle or high school other than the one with which the district has an official tuition agreement, which has traditionally been Milford.

The board told attendees that, although the draft warrant reads that 10% of middle and high school students could attend elsewhere, the copy submitted to the Department of Revenue stated 5%. The crowd unanimously agreed to officially change the number to 10%.

One percent of Mason’s elementary school population would represent one student. Choquette said that as the district already tuitions its middle and high school population, the district felt comfortable with a slightly higher amount allowed to seek open enrollment after elementary school, with 10% representing about seven students in the current population.

Voting on all warrant articles will be held on March 10 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mason Elementary School