CLICK HERE TO READ THE HISTORY LETTER
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER TO STUDENTS
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER TO ADMINISTRATION
HAMILTON — A grass-roots citizens group that formed to fight budget overrides in Hamilton and Wenham has taken on another foe — Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
In a letter sent to students at the seminary earlier this month, the group urged students who have children attending the Hamilton-Wenham schools to encourage college administrators to increase the seminary's in-lieu-of-taxes payment to the town and to help pay the cost of educating seminarians' children.
A separate letter was sent to school administrators and the board of directors.
As a nonprofit educational and religious institution, Gordon-Conwell is not obligated to pay the town anything.
The seminary's perceived drain on the town has been an issue in some quarters for years, however, and rose to the forefront last year.
Critics say the school promised to reimburse the town for the costs of schooling its children when it built housing for married couples in 1975. In a letter accompanying the letters to students and the school, Enough is Enough claims that an agreement by Gordon-Conwell to pay out-of-district tuition costs for any students who attended the public schools was "part of the permitting and building process."
Well, yes and no, according to documents pulled together by Selectman Dave Carey, the board's liaison with Gordon-Conwell. When the Zoning Board held its public hearing on the school's request for a variance to build the housing in February 1975, then-Vice President Lloyd Kalland told the Appeals Board the school would make those tuition payments, as well as an annual payment in lieu of taxes.
However, in its written approval of the variance, the board only "took note of" Kalland's offers, "without attaching significance to them in our decision." The payments were not a condition of the board's approval.
School officials have since contended Kalland didn't have the authority to agree to the arrangements in the first place.
Charge, countercharge
Enough is Enough makes claims of other drains on the town, as well.
One is that students leave the school without paying automobile excise taxes they owe the town.
Carey said school officials were embarrassed to learn about that and have been working at resolving the issue.
"Is there an unpaid bill out there today?" Carey said. "Probably yes, but they're working on it."
The other claim is that there are no water meters at the seminary, so the school and its resident students pay only estimated water bills. That, Carey said, is not true.
"I checked with the Water Department," he said. "They're all metered, they all pay their bills on time."
Bob Grey, an Enough is Enough organizer, said the group targeted seminary students as a last resort.
"We feel they really don't know what's going on," Gray said, adding that years of making complaints to school administrators has been fruitless.
Seminary spokeswoman Anne Doll declined to comment on the letters yesterday but said the school might have a response at a later date.
For years, the school gave the town $35,000 annually. Last year, that contribution dropped to $5,000, but the school agreed to pay $2,000 for each of the 40 students attending Hamilton-Wenham schools this year.
Carey noted that was a one-time decision, and school officials said they would revisit it every year.
Spend the endowment?
One of the letters pooh-poohs Gordon's claims that it is a small institution that struggles with its own financial reality. The letter cites the school's $40 million endowment and $80 million in assets as proof the school could afford to pay more.
However, institutions that rely on endowments try not to spend more than 3 percent to 4 percent of those funds every year, with a goal of maintaining the original funds, or even increasing them, Carey said.
And given the market realities of the past year, it's not likely the school's endowment is as large as it once was.
Carey said selectmen were disappointed by the letter-writing campaign. He said it's unfair to ask the school to respond to multiple demands for more money.
"Everything has to flow through the selectmen," he said.
School officials were asked last year to determine exactly how much Gordon-Conwell students cost the school system, including specific costs for special education services. Identifying the costs of individual groups of kids is not something educators can or should do, they replied.
Carey just wants to keep everything on track for discussions about future school contributions.
"Our goal is to get everybody back together again," he said.
Grey sounded less conciliatory, promising his group will step up the pressure if the school doesn't increase its contribution.
"I can tell you what the next step will be, and there won't be anything secret about it," Grey said. "Lawn signs: 'Gordon-Conwell, Pay Your Fair Share.'"
CLICK HERE TO READ THE HISTORY LETTER CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER TO STUDENTS CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER TO ADMINISTRATION
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