Shift some school costs away from West Tisbury and onto Chilmark, although how to do that remains a subject for further discussion. Dissolve the up-Island regional school district only as a last resort. And more detailed study could be warranted, preferably by an outside paid consultant.

These are the primary recommendations in a report from a special town task force appointed last year to study cost allocation in the up-Island regional school district. The report was presented this week to the West Tisbury selectmen.

The up-Island district serves the towns of Aquinnah, Chilmark and West Tisbury. There are two schools in the district: the small Chilmark School (K through 5) and the larger West Tisbury School (K through 8).

The seven-member task force was appointed by the West Tisbury selectmen in the summer of 2015 to evaluate how costs are allocated in the district. The current method for cost allocation is determined based on the percentage of students from each town that attend the two schools. But in recent years West Tisbury has begun to bear a disproportionate burden of the cost, creating tension in the district over whether Chilmark is paying its fair share.

In its nine-page report this week, the task force concluded that West Tisbury does bear an unfair cost burden, driven by three main factors:

• The district’s share of the school superintendent’s budget which went up 38 per cent.

• Added costs within the district, including a new secretary, enhanced meals program and increase in residential placements.

• So-called sending tuition assessed by the state for students from the district who attend the public charter school, a number that went up by 18 per cent.

The report also compared the up-Island district to other K-8 districts on the Island and found significantly higher staffing levels up-Island for an equivalent number of students. Up-Island, there were 90 full time equivalent (FTE) staff members for 351 students, while Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury had 79 FTEs, 75 FTEs and 75 FTEs respectively for the same number of students.

“The higher staffing levels result in a significantly higher amount of per student cost,” the report said, adding: “Much of the higher levels of staffing were in administrative, facilities and specialists where duplicative functions had to be provided at multiple sites.”

West Tisbury town accountant Bruce Stone assisted the task force with its financial analysis.

The report includes a summary of the history of the regional school district, formed in 1994 amid incentives from the state for 100 per cent reimbursement for transportation costs. The reimbursement rate has since declined to about 50 per cent. Enrollment in the regional school district also declined for a time, although it now has stabilized. Closing the Chilmark School could be a logical way to create savings, but is politically untenable, the task force concluded. So for now, the task force recommends revising the regional agreement to shift more costs to Chilmark.

West Tisbury selectman Cynthia Mitchell said Wednesday that the report creates a new starting point for discussion. “The recommendation is the selectman now of three towns sit down and talk about a fairer way to portion the costs of the schools — there’s a jumping off point,” she said. “Previous discussions have not started there, members of the school committee haven’t weighed in in a way that you could take it anywhere else.”

The selectmen plan to continue the discussion at their next regular meeting.

Selectman Richard Knabel, who sat on the task force, will present the report at the annual town meeting on April 12.