By Susan MacEachron

The Northwest Regional 7 (NWR7) Board of Education budget for the 2021-2022 academic year was proposed to the town of Norfolk on March 17 by board chair Molly Sexton Read. The town’s assessment is estimated to be $1.6 million in the NWR7 working budget document.

NWR7 presents its proposed budget to each of its constituent towns, which in addition to Norfolk include New Hartford, Barkhamsted and Colebrook. Norfolk has the smallest contingent of students with 71 currently in attendance. NWR7 serves middle and high school students.

Read emphasized the strong academic performance of the students and cited statistics comparing SAT scores statewide, and in the Berkshire league of nine schools. NWR7 is at the top in both comparisons and also has an impressive record of achievement for students taking advanced placement courses. In a cost per student comparison with other schools in the Berkshire league, NWR7 is on the lower end at $20,437 per student as compared to the highest, District 12, at $32,016.

The proposed 2021-2022 budget is $22.4 million, a 1.5% increase over the prior year. However, with tuition revenue from students outside the four towns, and surplus from the prior year, the net assessment budget is $20.2 million.  Norfolk’s estimated share at $1.6 million, is a $89,207 decrease from the prior year due to a smaller number of Norfolk students attending. The NWR7 student population has declined over the past several years. In the fall of 2018 there were 971 students from the four towns and 819 are anticipated in the fall of 2021. Tuition paying students from outside the district bring the projected total population at NWR7 to 999. 

The budget presentation is available on the NWR7 website under the Board of Education tab.