By Adam Swift
Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard will be before the town’s finance commission on Thursday, May 16 to make the school district’s case for a needs-based budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
Last month, the school committee voted in favor of moving forward with a needs-based budget for the district at a total figure of $38,734,270.
Typically, the school administration prepares a level-services budget which keeps services at the same level as approved for the current fiscal year, as well as the need-based budget. For FY25, the level-services budget is $37,634,288, In recent budget cycles, the town council has passed a budget using the level-services figure.
In presenting the budgets to the school committee last month, Howard saidbBoth budgets reflect the district’s commitment and focus on high quality teaching and learning, a foundation of equity, safety, adequate time in learning, and enhancing literacy for all of our students.
The needs-based budget affirms the district’s commitment to what it is currently providing and also reflects the additional staffing and programs the district believes its students are entitled to and will allow them to exceed what is offered in the level-services budget, Howard said.
The needs-based budget has additions in it such as the new K-5 ELA reading curriculum and it also includes maintaining class sizes within guidelines and has teaching positions added at all four schools.”
In addition, the proposed needs-based budget also provides funding for expanded middle school athletics, afterschool programming, and additional facilities maintenance, Howard said.
At this week’s school committee meeting, Howard said she plans to present the finance commission with copies of the needs-based budget during the hearing on Thursday, May 16 at 6 p.m. in the Harvey Hearing Room at town hall. Howard said she will also be sending a new version of the budget to the school committee members.
“At our meeting where you voted the needs-based budget, you had a level-services budget in front of you with the needs linked up and attached to that with a summary,” said Howard at Monday night’s school committee meeting. “Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to take those needs that were listed in front of you and place them into an actual budget that looks like the level-services budget.”
Howard said she hopes to get all the information on the budget to the finance commission members by this Friday.
“We hope that they will take an inordinate amount of time to look at the inordinate amount of work,” said Howard.
In addition to the upcoming meeting with the finance commission, Howard said she met recently with the school PTO presidents and vice presidents and their guests to go over the budgets and the process.
“We wanted to go through what the needs are and how we are advocating for those things,” said Howard. Howard said there will likely be an additional meeting with PTO members regarding the budget toward the end of May.