School officials seek $983,000
School officials are seeking nearly a $983,000 increase for the next school year to help cover increases in salaries, materials and operating expenses.School Superintendent Peter Kurzberg outlined a preliminary fiscal year 2006 budget during Tuesday's school committee meeting.
Officials are seeking an increase of about $983,000 over this year's $37.5 million budget to fund increases in personnel, materials and support. This increases covers the level service budget that provides for no new staff or programs. Kurzberg explained that the recently approved teachers' contract that provides for salary and step increases along with longevity and transfers will require about $785,000 over this year.-------Braintree Forum
This includes a savings of some $271,000 because of the retirement of 12 staff members. Increases in utility costs in addition to the need of replacing equipment and purchasing new textbooks and teaching supplies adds up to an increase of about $432,000.
Officials are seeking an additional $744,000 for next year to cover increases in support personnel salaries, bus fuel, travel expenses, a bus lease contract and transportation for special needs students and athletics.Kurzberg is also proposing to hire five special needs paraprofessionals and develop a preschool special needs program.
He explained that 12 preschool students have been identified as requiring specialized therapy that the new program would accommodate. Two paraprofessionals would be needed to staff this program. By having this in-house class, the town will actually save money as opposed to sending them to private programs. ''There will be a savings if these students had to go to an outside district,'' Kurzberg said.
Five paraprofessionals are being eyed to provide support for special needs programs throughout the school system.
Kurzberg said that figures may change during upcoming budget discussions.
Officials are also proposing an additional $690,000 to fund the hiring of more teachers, technicians for heating/ventilation, computer repairs and a school resource officer and purchasing more library books.
''We're trying to restore some services that were eliminated,'' Kurzberg said.
Last year, some 50 staff positions were cut due to a drastically reduced budget. This resulted in a number of programs being dropped. Officials are looking to hire 12 teachers - four each for the elementary, middle school and high school levels. They are also considering hiring a technician to maintain the system's heating and ventilation systems. These hires would cost about $580,000. Also, $25,000 is being proposed to buy more books for the school system's libraries; $35,000 for a computer repair technician and $50,000 for a school resource officer.
Kurzberg said the additional teachers are needed to help reduce class sizes. He noted that there are about 30 students in two grade 4 classes at Flaherty while another grade 2 class will be needed at Liberty School. The high school has some science labs with 30 students.''We need to figure out how to fix that next year,'' he said. ''We will look at enrollment figures thoughout the system and we could shift personnel.''Kurzberg said East and South middle schools are in need of remedial math and writing teachers while the high school needs one teacher each for science, math, English and social studies.
By THO- HERE WE GO AGAIN
