School Dept. ends year with surplus,
Published on July 30th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Though no one would claim that the past fiscal year was an easy one, the school department did close its books on a positive note, finding itself eighteen dollars in the black.
"I'm pleased to report that we did end the year with a balanced budget," said School Superintendent Dr. Les Olson, explaining that an approximately $18 balance surplus would be returned to the town. With regard to existing grant funds, Olson advised that balances in those accounts do not expire until August 30 and all balances will be expended by then.
In other news, the superintendent reported that hiring for the 2008-2009 school year is going well with a majority of the 20 open professional positions now filled. The school department continues to seek a Speech and Language instructor for Central School, a teacher for deaf and hard of hearing students at Robin Hood, a special education teacher at the Middle School, and a School Nurse for Colonial Park.
A nice change in the trend of recent years that saw Stoneham teachers leaving the struggling Stoneham system in record numbers, for comparable positions in other districts, has occurred this year, Olson said, with only one or two professionals jumping ship to nearby towns. Most of this year's vacancies are the result of retirements.
"So far, we seem to be in a very good position moving on to next year."
Final numbers regarding students leaving the Stoneham system have not yet been determined, but are expected by next month's School Committee meeting.
School Committee Chairwoman Marie Christie cited a recent Boston Globe chart that outlined Chapter 70 funds for school districts in the northwest region of eastern Massachusetts, questioning whether or not Stoneham's seemingly inequitable piece of the state funding pie is due to lower enrollments in recent years.
"Not by any means," Olson said. "It's simply the way the formula works and how it looks at your wealth and the effort you've been making in previous years."
"Many people characterize it as unfair to Stoneham and other communities like us...It may not be right, it may not be what we need, but it is what the law is," he said. "Until such time the state ever changes the formula, we're not going to see a whole lot of increase to our chapter 70 funding."
More disturbing, Olson went on, is that this is the third year of what is supposed to be a five year revision to the formula. Originally, it was expected that the formula revision would be fully funded in five years. So far, the state has increased funding to towns that have been shorted for years with the chapter 70 funding formula by only 33 percent.
"How the state expects to find another 67 percent to fully fund the formula in the next two years...is beyond me."
"It just isn't fair," Christie said. "The wealthier towns around us are making out much better than we are. We do everything we can and it's just not fair."
Finally, Olson announced that the state has extended its window for cities and towns to submit statements of intent, with regard to school building projects, to November.
A statement of intent would be an opportunity for a district to let the state know that it may be seeking reimbursable state funding for a school building project in the next couple of years. In Stoneham's case, such a statement would refer to a building project for the 55 year old Middle School.
"It does not commit the town or the state to anything," Olson assured, "but if we ever want to look at state support for a building renovation for the Middle School, I think it would be a good thing for the town and the school department to support the submission."
With more time now available from the state, Olson plans to draft a statement and review it with the Town Administrator. The School Committee would then have to address the Board of Selectmen on the issue.
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