Published in the March 1, 2018 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – The School Department is poised to seek an FY 2019 budget of $40,028,324 reflecting an increase of $2,100,059 (5.54 percent). School Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith presented her recommended budget at Tuesday’s School Committee meeting.
While the School Committee will not vote on the budget until its March 27 meeting, members offered no indication that they would seek major changes between now and then. A public hearing on the budget will be held as part of the March 12 School Committee meeting.
At its Feb. 12 meeting Smith floated two possible approaches to the School Department budget. “Option A” was the standard budget, which would include some unpredictable additional Special Education costs, including a bump in out-of-district placements. Done that way, Smith said, the requested FY 2018 budget would come with a 5.54 percent increase.
The other approach, “Option B,” would ask the town to fund a significant portion of the Special Education Budget outside of the regular School Department budget. By excluding some $500,000 in out-of-district Special Education costs and asking the town to fund that amount annually through s SPED Stabilization Fund, the School Department hoped to get it’s requested budget increase under 4 percent.
Four percent was the upper limit that the School Department was expected to hold the line at after it was given a one-time 11 percent increase in its budget three years ago. The School Department took some heat last year when it exceeded that number, seeking a 4.7 percent increase.
But Dr. Smith told the School Committee this week that during a recent two-hour meeting with the Finance Committee, the Option B approach was abandoned as potentially “too clunky.” Therefore, she said, the School Department would go with the traditional Option A approach, incorporating the full Special Education budget in its FY 2019 request.
In order to make room for “priority additions” to the FY 2019 budget, Smith said that the equivalent of four full-time positions were cut in a process that included reorganization and retirements. Cuts were also made in the areas of supplies, maintenance and utilities, Smith said. Grants and the School Department’s partnership with Leslie University were also leveraged to offset the budget.
Smith then identified the “priority additions” to the FY 2019 budget.
She proposed adding 2.4 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions, including a full-time Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator at $75,000.
Also added to the budget is a half-time K-4 moderate special needs teacher ($30,889), along with contractual services to provide students with individualized academic and social/emotional/health services.
A .4 FTE Art teacher has also been added to the FY 2019 budget at $24,551. This position, Smith said, will allow all students wanting to take Studio Art I to get into a class. Studio Art I is a prerequisite to take any other art classes.
Smith also proposed adding $28,765 to strengthen K-12 Library Media Centers with current digital/print publications, resources, and innovative makerspaces.
Also in the budget was a new position for a half-time nurse position ($30,689) to attend to “rising social-emotional health needs” at Wakefield Memorial High as well as to help deal with an increase in the number of students with life-threatening allergies, diabetes and seizure disorders.
Another addition to the budget would come from implementing Phase II of the reduction in activity fees for students.
Smith broke the School Department budget into three parts. Personnel costs account for 80 percent of the budget, she said. Operational costs and Special Education costs make up the remainder.
She said that the total increase in personnel costs was $1,483,854 (3.91 percent). Operational cost increases were listed at $79,006, (.21 percent). Special Education Out-of-District tuitions increases totaled $537,199, (1.42 percent).
The net total budget increase came to $2,100,059 (5.54 percent).
Smith also noted that in the Governor’s preliminary budget, Wakefield is slated to receive $6,300,748 in Chapter 70 funding, an increase of $69,760 over last year.
School Committee member Christopher Callanan said he felt that this year’s budget process was “smooth and transparent” in part due to working closely with the Finance Committee from the beginning.
