Canton school dept. in the black with help from TM

By Jay Turner

The Canton School Committee received some very positive yet surprising fiscal news Thursday night when school business manager Ken Leon announced a projected surplus of more than $450,000 in the schools’ FY11 operating budget — the same budget that received a $440,000 boost at annual town meeting to help address rising special education costs.

The extra funding, approved by residents with support from the Finance Committee, was actually one of two free cash transfers awarded to the schools back in April, the other being a $363,000 transfer to help address a shortfall in the FY10 budget. However, just weeks later, school officials received an additional $205,000 in state aid for special education, and they quickly voted to return the entire sum to the town.

At the time, School Committee Chairman Reuki Schutt admitted that there were “plenty of good reasons to spend the money,” but she ultimately agreed with her colleagues that returning the funds was the “right and proper thing to do” and would strengthen the school department’s credibility with both municipal officials and residents going forward.

Leon said the committee could now be faced with a similar decision at the end of this fiscal year — assuming, of course, that the surplus remains, which he said is no guarantee.

“This isn’t the end of it,” he warned. “We could go south at any time.”

Currently, however, the school department’s budget outlook is rosier than anyone could have anticipated, and Leon attributed that fact, in part, to the school system’s recent emphasis on reducing the number of costly out-of-district special education placements.

He said there have already been 31 placement changes since the start of this school year, including a number of instances where students have been brought back into the system. He said the resulting savings, when combined with the additional monies received from the town, have produced a positive variance of $334,000 in the expenses portion of the budget.

Leon said the remaining surplus of $119,000 is the result of salary “attrition,” which is typically generated when newer teachers are hired after veteran teachers retire.

While certainly pleased with the news, committee members were quick to point out that a lot could happen between now and the close of the fiscal year in June. However, if any money does remain, Schutt said the committee has to “seriously consider” giving it back to the town.

“We have a very nice partnership with the town,” she said, “and we need to take care of it.”

In other news Thursday night, the committee voted 5-0 to name the new fitness center at Canton High School the “Scott Herr Memorial Fitness Center” in honor of the late Scott Herr, a lifelong Canton resident and a 2009 graduate of CHS who passed away in a traffic accident last winter. A three-sport athlete and honors student, Herr was an active member of the community and beloved by teachers, coaches, and classmates. He was also the inaugural recipient of the Paul Matthews Senior Cup, named in honor of longtime School Committee member Paul Matthews.

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