Schools will ask for $21.6 million
Published on January 16th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - Twenty-one million, 600 thousand dollars is what is needed to run Stoneham schools next year, according to School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly.
Last Thursday he presented to the School Committee draft one of the fiscal 2003 school budget.
Calling it a "maintenance level budget," Connelly announced that, in total, the schools are looking for funding to the tune of $21,646,847 to operate next year.
"This is a basic budget that calls for a certain amount of money to help us maintain a level of service we currently enjoy," Connelly said.
This $21.6 million figure represents a 7.24 percent increase over the current year.
Three teaching positions will be added to respond to enrollment increases, Connelly said. In addition, three positions will be added or enhanced as deemed necessary by the administration reorganization plan presented and approved earlier this year, which involves addition of a Social Studies program supervisor, a World Language program supervisor, and a longer work year for the Technology and Media Director.
New textbook adoptions also account for the leap in costs over the current year. Stoneham Schools are on a seven to eight year textbook revision cycle and $50,000 is needed for next year. Connelly said that amount will likely be needed for subsequent years as well.
This expense has not been seen in the school operating budget for the past two years as the need to align curriculum to MCAS requirements necessitated larger purchases. Instead, the schools sought funding from Town Meeting through separate warrant articles. Last year, the schools received $194,000 for textbook adoptions, over and above a $20 million budget.
"We said then that this would be a two year plan. Now any textbook adoptions go back in the budget," Connelly said.
Building maintenance is expected to go up by $92,000. This area includes expenses such as fuel and electricity, as well as maintenance contracts for elevators, HVAC, and communication systems. Vice Chairman Jeanne Craigie questioned whether or not piggy-backing onto some of the town's maintenance contracts for these areas would save money, and this will be looked into.
Health insurance "continues to be a major problem," said Connelly. An 18 percent increase over the current year is built into draft one. In December, Town Administrator David Berry and Finance Board Chairman Richard Gregorio warned the School Committee of the anticipated increases in this area. They suggested budgeting an increase of 20 percent. Connelly has been carefully considering this area and is hedging his bets by proposing an increase of $290,000.
Like health insurance, Special Education is an area with many uncontrollable expenses. The state dictates what to spend and who to service. An increase of about $240,000 is included in draft one, but Connelly cautioned that more information regarding increases may be forthcoming next month.
While the Finance Board indicated in December that, in total, a five- percent school budget increase would be what the town could afford, Connelly said on Thursday that the draft one proposal of a 7.42 percent increase "is absolutely rock bottom."
The Committee is expected to vote on draft one at an upcoming meeting, either Jan. 24 or Feb. 7. In the meantime, a summit meeting is scheduled for this week with members of the Board of Selectmen, Finance Board and School Committee, to discuss the total town budget.
In other school news:
A March 4 Town Meeting, called by the School Committee, has been approved by the Board of Selectmen. This is where the School Committee plans on asking townspeople for an additional $6 million to complete the elementary school rebuilding project. Bids on the last two schools in the project, Robin Hood and Colonial Park, will be opened on Feb. 5 and Feb. 26 respectively.
The Department of Revenue recently approved the schools' request to incorporate the additional $6 million request into the original debt exclusion. That debt exclusion and what was then thought to be a $39.8 million rebuilding project were approved by Town Meeting in 1997.
Also, Department of Public Works Director Bob Grover estimates drainage work in the Robin Hood School area to cost $510,000.
Work in this area has already been on the DPW's schedule, but with school construction imminent, that neighborhood has been prioritized. Without Town Meeting approval of this appropriation, the schools will have to incorporate some of this work into its construction project, driving up the price tag even higher by about $350,000.
Finally, the School Committee began, as a group, reviewing the many policies by which it is expected to conduct business.
Craigie has been working on this for some time. While some policies need updating, all are in need of review with documentation of that review.
"This is the most serious thing this board does...We've gone through nine years of Ed Reform with 1978 policies...These are policies this board is elected to carry out," Craigie said.
Among those reviewed was the policy regarding release of executive session minutes. The current policy calls for such when the content of the minutes is no longer considered confidential.
According to members, this has not been done, and in order to begin following the policy, a legal interpretation of “confidential” was requested.
Another policy addressed was that which calls for daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance during school. While this is being done at the elementary level and probably the Middle School level, Connelly stated he was not sure the high school was following the policy. Committee members noted that, in addition to a School Committee policy, this is a state law. A reminder would be sent out to all schools.
The next School Committee Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 25.
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