Due to a tightening budget on the school and town, ten positions may be eliminated from Rochester Memorial School next year, it was revealed at the school committee’s February 2 meeting.
Under intense financial pressure, the Town of Rochester asked the school committee late last year to propose a level-funded budget. To meet this request, the committee had to cut $435,000 – the amount over the fiscal year 2012 budget that is required to maintain services for the next school year.
At the meeting, the school committee put into perspective what a $435,000 cut would entail: the elimination of four professional teaching staff, six fewer paraprofessionals, reduced technology assistance, and the elimination of one bus – among other things.
Principal Jay Ryan spoke on how the cut would impact day-to-day learning. We said less assistance will be available in classrooms, and the lunch period would be changed from three to two periods to ensure adequate supervision in the cafeteria and in the playground. Also, some assistants in Kindergarten will disappear, he said.
One staff cut is the science lab instructor, and students seeking individual instrumental musical instruction may need to pay for more of the costs out of their own pocket, Mr. Ryan said.
He said a “significant impact” would occur with class sizes. For grades three to six, the class size may rise to as high as 26 to 27 students per class.
“We know it will be concerning to the town…,” School Committee Chairperson Tina Rood said of the draft budget, calling it “alarming.”
“All parties affected have been spoken to, so we can have these conversations and everyone can understand the potential impact [the budget] can have,” she added.
The cuts are not entirely unexpected. Federal stimulus dollars that have been supplementing the budget the past few years will be completely dried up by next year, and the Tri-Town will receive no education-related state aid increases under Governor Deval Patrick’s January 25 budget proposal, according to Superintendent Doug White.
Mr. White added that the final budget numbers will not be known until late spring, after the budget is revised and voted on by the House and Senate. Mr. White stressed that the draft budget is preliminary, and that the school committee will look to find other funding sources, including a $500,000 district-wide technology grant, to help offset the expenditures.
The RMS budget subcommittee, which presented the draft figures, spoke plainly about the challenges ahead due to certain increases – some expected and others unexpected – in the budget.
The rising number of students attending Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton, MA is directly impact the budget, for example.
Ms. Rood explained that under an agreement between the three towns, the local elementary schools have to pay tuition for high schoolers from their towns opting to attend.
“This increase is $35,000 in next year alone, and it is taken out of RMS’s budget,” Ms. Rood said. She said the number of students enrolled at Bristol Aggie is 11 students, compared to two or three students four years ago.
“The money goes right from RMS students to Bristol students,” she said.
The same applies for special education: out-of-district services required for certain special education students are taken from the elementary school budget.
School Committee member Sharon Hartley said the Joint School Committee is investigating handling special education differently, by having the region pay for these costs instead of placing them solely on the three elementary schools.
“We are in the process of looking into that, and changing ways the financial burden is handled,” Ms. Hartley said.
Ms. Rood also indicated that talks will be underway with Rochester town officials on removing Bristol Aggie tuitions from the RMS budget and adding it to the general town budget as a separate line item.
Another culprit to the higher budget number is increased utility costs associated with running the new building addition.
While Facilities Manager Steve Murphy said the “electric bill is moving in the right direction” in his energy-saving initiatives, one teacher in the audience wondered aloud why the town is not funding these increases, given that it knew they were coming.
“It is going to be perceived we built an extra building and now we can’t [afford to] put teachers in the classrooms. That looks terrible,” said Danni Kleiman, a sixth grade teacher.
In the meantime, the committee urged concerned residents to speak up.
“We are only so many voices, particularly at town meeting,” said committee member Robin Rounseville. “If you are concerned, we need to hear from you and other people need to hear from you… Times are tough, but we need your help.”
Superintendent Doug White said that anyone who wanted a copy of the budget should contact his office.
“We’ve taken what we think is a budget to allow us to provide a quality education and reduced that by $435,000 … I’ll do what I can to ensure we are not approaching 30 [students] in a classroom,” the superintendent said.
The official public hearing on the budget is scheduled for March 1, 2012 at 6:30 pm in the Rochester Town Hall.
By Laura Fedak Pedulli