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Schools' FY11 deficit decreases, but cuts still
loom
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
The Canton
Public Schools’ budget shortfall in fiscal year 2011 has
decreased slightly from its worst-case forecast of $1.5 million
and could be reduced even further, Superintendent Dr. John
D’Auria announced last week; however, D’Auria said officials
still face some “ugly choices,” including whether to bring back
bus fees and raise athletic fees in the shadow of a successful
Proposition 2 ½ override.
Speaking at
Thursday’s School Committee meeting, D’Auria pegged the latest
figure at $1.37 million after explaining that he got a “fairly
good glimpse” of what the Board of Assessors’ revaluation of
properties would be able to generate in additional revenue.
He added that
the schools could also receive around $200,000 in state funds
for extraordinary special education costs, and he did not rule
out the possibility of receiving “additional support” from the
town in light of encouraging talks with both the selectmen and
the Finance Committee.
At the same
time, D’Auria said there are “no guarantees,” and he made it
clear that cuts will still be necessary even in a best-case
scenario.
“If we get a
few breaks, we might lose fewer teachers than the 18 that I saw
in the worst-case scenario,” he wrote in a follow-up email, “but
we probably will end up losing some staff and most of our cash
capital (again); we will also lose valuable opportunities to
advance our work with technology, the use of data, support for
valuable professional development, etc.”
In reviewing
his recommended cuts with committee members for a second time,
D’Auria explained that he had prioritized them into levels in
order of least to most painful, with many of the staff cuts
reserved for the later levels. He also noted that the current
deficit has two components: roughly $145,000 in reduced state
aid and $1.229 million in additional out-of-district special
education costs.
He said the
first figure could be addressed with projected savings in energy
and staffing costs — a recommendation that garnered unanimous
support from the committee.
Not all
members agreed with the superintendent’s proposal for fee hikes,
however. Chairman Reuki Schutt said the increase in the athletic
fee, although modest, was particularly concerning because of the
potential for a “slippery slope” to develop.
She also
expressed doubt over the proposed bus fee of $180 — a dollar a
day — for students in grades 7-12, while committee member Rob
Barker suggested it be tempered with a high school parking fee,
which represents a less essential form of school transportation.
Schutt
initially proposed switching one of D’Auria’s “higher level”
cuts — the elimination of a school bus — with the bus user fee,
but D’Auria said that has several drawbacks as well, including
making the middle and high school late buses even later.
“You have to
keep on reminding yourself that none of this stuff is really a
good idea,” he said.
Other
recommendations discussed Thursday night included a reduction in
supplies, the elimination of 2.4 positions between the middle
and high schools, and the use of “attrition” money that is
typically generated when veteran teachers retire.
D’Auria also
proposed charging the Recreation Department a fee to use school
gymnasiums, to which committee member Tim Brooks, a recreation
commissioner, replied, “They’re in a crunch. We’re in a crunch.
It’s time to work together.”
After the
meeting, D’Auria acknowledged via email that there is a
“perception issue that chases the school department,” namely
that school officials “cry wolf” every year when it comes to the
budget.
“What has been
challenging for me is how to manage that perception
and deal with
a different issue — some have criticized the schools for not
being sufficiently transparent with their budgeting,” he wrote.
“Part of my thinking, in relationship to transparency, is to lay
out all the scenarios as soon as possible so that there are no
surprises.”
He said last
year, for instance, they were worried that the deficit was going
to be larger but were eventually “bailed out” by the federal
stimulus package. Yet they still lost “hundreds of thousands of
dollars in infrastructure — professional development,
technology, and capital items.”
“Despite these
significant losses, reductions, and lost opportunities to
advance our work, because we didn’t dismiss classroom teachers
and our class sizes did not increase, ‘nothing really happened.’
That is where the cry-wolf perception is born. What saddens me
about it is the fact that people actually perceive that no
damage has been incurred.”
“We are facing
a $1.37 million deficit for next year and a $449,000 for this
year,” he continued. “There is nothing imaginary about that, and
I continue to lose sleep over the potential impact on the system
if we lose that much, especially when we look ahead to next
year.”
D’Auria added
that school systems, because of Proposition 2 ½, are
“structurally designed to almost always be in a financial hole”
since many of their “essential ingredients,” including special
education, increase at a rate far greater than 2.5 percent.
“How many
times can a school share this with its community without it
starting to sound like whining?” he wrote. “On the other hand,
if schools don’t lay out the costs and potential implications of
insufficient funding, citizens might think everything is fine.”
March 4, 2010
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