School Committee submits preliminary budget

The School Committee last week submitted a preliminary operating budget for the next fiscal year that is $500,000 more than the figure they received from Finance Director Jim Murgia.

The committee submitted the budget to the Finance Committee knowing it had to meet a mid-January deadline but also knowing that the town’s Revenue Committee has yet to meet and will not do so until late January. The Revenue Committee, which sets the budget parameters for all town departments, consists of Murgia, Town Administrator Bill Friel, and representatives from the School Department, Board of Selectmen, and FinCom. The School Committee should receive a firmer budget number from the Revenue Committee by February 7.

The current operating budget is $31,920,505. Murgia had given the School Department an increase of $1 million, and the committee submitted a preliminary budget of $33,420,505, which represents a 4.4 percent increase over FY13.

At their meeting last Thursday, School Superintendent Jeff Granatino and School Business Manager Ken Leon provided the committee with some statistics about the preliminary budget. They noted, for instance, that a large portion of the budget increase ($944,000) will be needed to cover increased labor costs associated with the newly approved contracts for school employees.

Granatino said the additional $500,000, if approved by town meeting, will be spent on the following areas: textbooks and instructional supplies; custodians and the late bus at the Galvin Middle School; special education support in kindergarten and preschool; a greater array of AP and elective courses at the high school; additional language courses; and equitable funding for extracurricular programs.

“We have identified areas of needs,” Granatino said, “but our eyes are wide open. This is just a starting point.”

New School Committee member Dave Emhardt, a former FinCom chairman, said he would like to see a budget number that is sustainable. “A 4 percent increase may be more realistic than a 4.4 percent increase,” he said. “You don’t want to grow too much and then have to contract.”

In other news:

* Hansen School Principal Peter Boucher presented a summary of school activities to the committee and noted the success of the before-school fitness program, now entering its second session. Approximately 40 students have signed up for the program, which is led by YMCA staff members every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

Boucher also highlighted several other programs and initiatives, including a study skills and organization session, a partnership with Orchard Cove residents, an authors-in-residence program, a renovated computer lab, new outdoor classroom, and plans for a new playground, as well as an active student council program and an active and supportive parent/teacher association (CAPT).

Boucher said every student, staff member, and family member at “Team Hansen” have the same expectations and vocabulary: “Do your best always; be respectful, safe, friendly and kind; and do the right thing.” Boucher said every activity at the Hansen has an academic component to it. “We want constant forward academic progress,” he said.

* Curriculum Director Jen Henderson reported success with a summer reading partnership between the YMCA and the Canton Public Schools for at-risk elementary students. The YMCA provided a $20,000 grant, and the Canton schools provided the training for the YMCA instructors. Of the 20 students who participated, three did not complete the program; five maintained literacy levels; nine produced higher scores and showed significant growth; and three produced lower scores. YMCA CEO Jeff Russell attended the meeting to note the superb training provided by the Canton instructors and to say that Canton was the best community to implement this summer reading program.

* The School Department has been awarded a $15,000 grant from Canton-based Meditech to be used for technical programs. This is the 10^th year that Meditech has given a grant to the Canton schools.

* The School Committee will be fielding a team in the CAPE Spelling Bee, which begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 11.

* The committee will next meet on January 17 at 7 p.m. at CHS.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 10 2013. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.