Schools take first stab at FY2008 budget
Published on November 8th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA -The fiscal 2008 budget process formally began last week as the School Committee listened to official enrollment projections for next year.
"Tonight, we're taking the first step toward the FY08 budget," Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly told the committee, presenting enrollment projections for next year in part based on actual enrollment figures as of October 1.
To come up with the projections, the actual enrollment figures from over the past ten years are studied with a selection of years (possibly five of the ten or a few of the most recent years, for example) designated as most representative of the next five years. This information is intended to identify trends from year to year or grade to grade, and is then shared with principals and program supervisors to assist them in coming up with their budget requirements for the next year.
Enrollment figures from the past three years, Connelly said, are the most representative of what will come in the next five years because of the advent of full day Kindergarten, as well as the increasing outward migration of students from grade eight to grade nine.
Enrollment is expected to remain stable at the elementary level for FY08 and the existing 58.5 teaching positions should be adequate to maintain the relatively low class sizes seen this year. However, any cut to staffing at this level, Connelly said, will send those class sizes soaring.
"Clearly we are at a staffing level that is as low as you can get without causing a dramatic impact on our class sizes."
Increases in staffing would only be approved for enrollment increases (which are not expected at this level), special education mandates, or per order of School Committee restoration projects as outlined in its long range plans.
"We have suggested to the (elementary) principals that there will be no need for additional elementary teaching positions needed for next year," Connelly advised.
Middle School enrollment is also expected to remain stable, however, the Middle School is the subject of a School Committee restoration plan and this long range plan to restore programs and/or staff is expected be part of the FY 08 budget process.
The trend does not continue at the high school level, where projections indicate a drop in enrollment. While high school enrollment topped 900 for the first time in a decade during the 2005-2006 school year, enrollment fell by approximately 42 students this year. That reduction is expected to continue next year as more eighth grade students choose private schools for high school. The upside to this is that a decrease in enrollment at the high school level will help moderate the very large class sizes, and "takes a little bit of pressure off your staffing issues," Connelly explained.
However, in Massachusetts, state aid relies heaving on enrollment figures and the decrease could translate to further cuts in state aid to Stoneham. Furthermore, if a student moves to a charter school, the public school system has the charter school tuition cost for that student taken right off the top of its Chapter 70 funds for the year. At the Mystic Valley Charter School in Malden, where there are currently approximately 40 Stoneham students, that figure is $8,600 per student of Chapter 70 money that the Stoneham school system never sees. School Committee Chairman Kristin Russo said that investing in the Stoneham school system to retain students would be the most cost effective move.
Based on the enrollment information, budget guidelines, which were approved by the School Committee on Thursday, have been developed and will be forwarded to all budget holders.
"We are again faced with anticipated town wide budget restrictions. It is recommended that all budget holders level fund or reduce all nonsalary line items," Connelly advised.
However, the superintendent also cautioned the School Committee that budget holders have been forced to level fund or reduce over the past several years, in addition to working under a spending freeze last year.
"I think we have to face reality that our budget holders may have to ask for some modest increases in supplies."
Connelly is looking to give budget holders a little more time this year in developing their preliminary budgets since the School Department is typically ahead of other departments.
FY2005 town audit details findings, reportable conditions
STONEHAM, MA -A recently released audit of the town's financial accounting in FY'05 detailed 22 findings, including two trends that the outside firm characterized as reportable conditions.
According to the report, which primarily outlined minor troublesome accounting practices such as retirement system contribution payment problems that are related to a common glitch in computer software, Stoneham does have a significant problem in its failure to reconcile cash and receivable balances on a regular basis.
The second significant finding underscored the importance of separating the Town Treasurer's office, which collects cash and receivables, from the responsibility of accounting for that money (in this case through the town's accounting software).
Discussing the report at a recent Selectmen's meeting, Town Administrator Ron Florino claimed that the majority of the findings were directly related to staff turnovers and layoffs in Town Hall's key financial offices.
And while the Town Administrator admitted that something needed to be done immediately to correct the more significant problems, he advocated against hiring those staff members back.
"I think we can correct these findings. We can try to address some of the more severe issues," Florino remarked. "But I don't think this is the time to bring back all these positions and say, 'Okay, let's spend $150,000 and layoff another cop or educator.'"
Disagreeing with the Town Administrator, Selectman Paul Rotondi believed that the audit report revealed a significant problem in the manner by which the town manages itself.
According to Rotondi, who was extremely concerned with the description of what a "reportable condition" constituted, Stoneham will never be able to turn its financial ship around if it is governed in an inefficient manner.
"One of the most disturbing things for me with this whole report is the sentence that says, 'Reportable conditions...involve significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the internal control structure,'" the first-term Selectman said.
"I think that's a pretty damning sentence. And we're going to really have to look at that [possibly hiring back some personnel]. If the town can't run efficiently if we can't manage it efficiently," Rotondi added.
Emphasizing that the reportable conditions did not indicate any form of fraud or financial mismanagement, Florino claimed that when it came to reconciling cash and receivables, the town tended to be six-months behind schedule.
And because that process was being done on a bi-annual rather than monthly basis - as recommended by the audit firm - the Town Accountant and Treasurers' offices had to scramble at-times to identify inconsistencies in their figures.
As for the second reportable condition, which raised a red-flag over having the Town Treasurer manage cash and receivables and the accounting software where that data was inputted, that problem should disappear since Town Meeting recently approved funding for a MIS or computer person, Florino said.
"I want to put everybody's mind at ease. It's not that we don't reconcile cash and receivables. It might take us six months to do it, but it is done. There's no mismanagement of misappropriations of money," the Town Administrator stressed. "The funds are there and the money is accounted for."
"The person who controls the assets can't control the books for those assets. So last night was a major thing, passing that $25,000 for the MIS [department]," Selectman John DePinto said of the second major finding. "But we can't afford to keep on getting these management letters. Eventually, they're not going to give us an opinion."
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