Schools look at cuts to proposed budget
Published on March 12th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Some of the faces are different, the date is changed, but the budget news remains the same.
Once again budget preparation for the next fiscal year illustrates that the same old story is being retold. Without the money it believes it needs to run the Stoneham Schools next year, the School Committee is forced to revive the familiar discussion of program and staff reductions.
"It's somewhat discouraging that we have not spent much, if any, time talking about the goals and desires to expand and improve our schools programs," new School Superintendent Dr. Les Olson said during his first budget development experience in Stoneham.
On Thursday, Olson presented to the School Committee his recommendations to get the school budget down from his initial proposal to one of two figures offered by Town Administrator David Ragucci.
The dismal financial news from the town helped Olson to quickly get into the swing of things with regard to pulling monkeys out of hats in order to find a way to run the schools successfully.
According to Olson, he initially came up with a figure of $25,717,042 to level fund the Stoneham School budget for fiscal 2009. This figure represents an 8.8 percent increase over the current year, with necessary increases coming from contractual salary and step increases for staff, health insurance, special education tuition and services, health insurance and utilities.
Level funding is a luxury that the town has not been able to afford in recent years, Olson soon learned. Instead, Ragucci's figures show that the schools can be allocated a total of $24.7 million if the town enforces the trash fee next year, which represents a $1 million reduction from the level funded budget proposed. Without the trash fee, only $24.2 million could be appropriated to the schools, a figure down $1.5 million from Olson's initial proposal. Traditionally, the difference has been made up of cost cutting, usually in the form of lay offs and program reductions.
"We knew from the beginning that it would be a very tight squeeze for town revenues to allow us to consider that budget," Olson said.
Among Olson's recommendations to get the budget in line with the Town Administrators budget figures were significant impacts to the level of teaching staff and the athletic program. Without a trash fee, the system could lose 27 teaching positions but salvage 80 percent of the athletic program, or it could face elimination of the sports program altogether and lose just 18 teachers. If a trash fee is enacted for FY09, teacher reductions could be scaled down 10 with a 20 percent loss of the athletic program. The athletic user fees would also increase by $50 per student.
Long time School Committee member Marie Christie called the choices "ridiculous."
Other areas that the School Committee must consider cutting back on include small capital projects, such as phase 3 of the Middle School locker replacement program and repairs to the high school track, upgrades to technology, as well as looking elsewhere for money to address the need for a high school roof. In addition, while Olson included restoring two custodians in his initial budget, that proposal would now have to be rescinded.
Another area that may produce savings is in cross district registrations. Currently, Stoneham students attend the elementary school in their neighborhood, but a few exceptions are made for what Olson described as "the right reasons," such as in cases where siblings could be together at the same school.
Recently, Olson looked at this situation and an analysis showed that if students were moved to their neighborhood schools, it might allow the system to cut one or two positions.
Despite the dismal news, Olson assured the committee that behind the budget scene, there is still much going on in the Stoneham Schools regarding curriculum and other initiatives.
"We're not standing still."
Olson stated he would be prepared to present the reductions discussed last week in more detail at the School Committee's next meeting scheduled for March 27.
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