School budget woes lead to painful cuts
Published on April 9th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - They couldn't stave off the destruction any longer and last week School Committee members finally found themselves making official the budget cuts they've been debating for months.
Reluctantly but unanimously the committee approved cuts totaling $681,781 from next year's budget as mandated by the town.
While it knew that the state of the economy held out little hope for a fiscal 2004 budget that would maintain existing services, the School Committee was still optimistic that new and expanded programs would generate sufficient revenue to make cuts less drastic. But Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly reported on Thursday that actual profits from expanded day Kindergarten and after school child care programs will likely fall short of what everyone had initially hoped.
"It's not surprising," Connelly said, because this revenue that would be used as offsets to the 2004 budget will not materialize until next year and many people are not ready to make financial commitments now for September.
The committee wanted to offer four full day Kindergarten programs, one at each of the elementary schools, but interest thus far would fill just two sessions. Based on these numbers, he figured about$30,000 could be garnered from the full day Kindergarten program. About $60,000 is projected as available revenue from the after school child care program once it expands into each of the four elementary schools.
This total revenue amount of $90,000 will be used to bring back some of the positions and services the School Committee just cut. Two weeks ago, the committee categorized the necessary cuts from least to most harmful.
Approximately $250,000 of the total $682,000 cut was highlighted as most harmful and designated as the first to be brought back once revenue is realized. Among those positions and services to be saved should additional income warrant are two elementary reading specialists, three teacher aides, a .5 school psychologist position, elementary instrumental music staff, a .8 elementary health teaching position, and a .3 elementary music teacher.
At its last meeting, the School Committee had included $59,000 in administrative staff reductions be part of the total $682,000 cut but Connelly advised that this action would require negotiation with bargaining units which may not be successful. Since it was unknown whether such action would be contractually allowed, the committee instead looked to fill the reductions list with one High School and one Middle School teacher, totaling $70,000. These positions were likewise included on the most harmful list and highlighted to bring back if revenue allows.
The School Committee also voted to raise the athletic user fee but not as drastically as had been discussed.
"I think jumping from $100 to $200 in one year is a lot," committee member Cheryl Walsh said, preferring an increase to $150 this year and to $200 next year if necessary.
$150 per student, per sport athletic user fee with a $600 family cap was unanimously approved.
Just when it seemed like the budget couldn't get any worse, Stoneham received a bill for $108,000 that would pay for Stoneham students to attend an out-of-district vocational school.
Currently, six Stoneham students want to attend Minuteman Vocational School in Lexington rather than the Northeast Regional Vocational School in Wakefield which is the Stoneham district vocational school and to which Stoneham taxpayers contribute.
Supposedly, Minuteman offers vocational majors that Northeast does not which would be the technicality that would allow the students to go out of district. It would cost Stoneham about $16,000 to send each student to the out-of-district school.
Some School Committee members questioned why Northeast does not offer the same programs as Minuteman which would reduce the high number of transfer requests. Others questioned Minuteman's marketing strategy and motives to offer seemingly disparate programs.
"If we're getting budget-busting type of financial constraints ... then I think it is incumbent upon Northeast to start looking at the programs they're not offering ... so we don't have all these students migrating to other schools," committee member Marc Grimaldi said.
But Connelly suggested that the problem is not one-sided.
"Northeast is going through the same budget constraints we are," he said.. He alleged that Minuteman is employing a strategy which places undo burden on other schools by offering programs without consulting other vocational schools.
The six student requests are being appealed. If Stoneham can prove that Northeast offers the same programs that Minuteman merely markets differently, the students' requests can be denied and the $16,000 per student price tag can be avoided.
The committee requested that Anthony DeTeso, Northeast's School Committee member representing Stoneham, be invited to an upcoming meeting to shed some light on the issue.
Connelly is preparing a letter to the Board of Selectmen advising them of this potential $108,000 liability for which the School Committee will likely call upon the town to fund at the October Town Meeting.
"We're going to need some kind of town support for these unanticipated expenses. We can't keep going back to our budget."
In other news, three hopefuls for the Robin Hood School Principalship fielded questions from the School Committee ranging from how they would best align curriculum with state frameworks to personal strengths befitting the sought after job at public interviews last week
Long time Robin Hood School principal Maureen Soley, who has seen her school through its rebuilding, will retire at the end of this year.
"We've identified three finalists which could all be very successful as our Robin Hood School principal." Connelly said.
Barbara Boyle, a Winchester resident and principal of the Harrington School in Cambridge, said that through this interview process she has found Stoneham to be a very collaborative system which is the style in which she runs her school. She also described herself as fiscally conservative, consensus building, willing to listen, and willing to act.
Garth McKinney is a Wakefield resident who currently serves as assistant principal at the Abbott School in Westford. He told the School Committee that he is a collaborative leader with good interpersonal and problem solving skills, and could bring a fresh perspective, parallel experience and enthusiasm to the Robin Hood School.
Veteran Stoneham teacher and Winthrop resident Alice Reilly said she would bring insight, history, knowledge and commitment to the job. As a student in the Merrimack Educational Center Leadership Academy working on her administrator's license, she has worked alongside Soley this academic year to satisfy her practicum course work requirement, an experience she called invaluable.
The three finalists were chosen from a field of 45 applicants. A search committee, comprised of administrators, teachers, School Committee member Marie Christie and parents Maribeth Kelley and John Skitsimas, reviewed resumes, conducted interviews, and narrowed the pool of candidates down to six for second interviews with Connelly. The top three picks from that group worked on impressing the School Committee on Thursday but by state law, the superintendent can make the final choice.
An announcement on the preferred candidate could be made this week.
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