School Committee: Budget cuts for real this time

Faced with a structural deficit and fresh out of one-time revenue sources to help soften the blow, members of the Canton School Committee delivered a painful warning to the community last week in what they hoped were crystal-clear terms: Budget cuts are coming, and this time, they will be unavoidable.

While cuts have been a reality in past budget years as well, the committee readily acknowledged at their meeting Thursday night that the schools, since 2008 at least, have averted all of their worst-case scenarios thanks to a combination of override funds, free cash transfers, and federal stimulus dollars; however, this year the well seems to have finally dried up.

Although committee members agreed that the cuts would be difficult to make, Chairman Reuki Schutt emphasized that they are “also members of this community and know that there’s not another nickel.” She then went a step further, stating that, unlike last year, the committee has not even entertained the thought of seeking additional funds at town meeting, adding, “It has been our intention all along to make these cuts.”

Specifically, the school department will need to slash around $1.2 million from the superintendent’s recommended FY 2012 budget of $31.6 million, which is in essence a level-service budget with a few modest “enhancements” — roughly $200,000 worth of new spending headlined by the expansion of three special education programs.

And since each of the proposed enhancements has already been deemed either critically important or legally mandated — such as the additional funds needed to transport homeless students to Canton — the savings will have to come in other areas, including, in some cases, through the loss of personnel.

Noting that layoffs are likely at this point, Schutt said she wanted to give people as much notice as possible and therefore wanted to have all cuts finalized by early April. That gives them two meetings: one on March 31, which was rescheduled from March 24, and the other on April 7, more than two weeks before the start of town meeting.

In addition to service and staff reductions, the committee is also considering a variety of fee hikes — everything from increasing the parking fee for CHS students to charging a bus fee to elementary students who live less than two miles from their school.

The committee will also look at raising the high school athletic user fee from $125 to $150 or perhaps even higher, although most of the talk Thursday night revolved around the possible elimination of three sports programs: golf, gymnastics and swimming, the latter of which serves both girls and boys.

All five committee members were resistant to the idea, to say the least.

In fact, they spent the majority of their budget discussions on this one topic, peppering CHS athletic director Danny Erickson with questions in hopes of finding a more palatable alternative.

Liz Salisbury, for instance, suggested cutting the existing four freshman teams (football, baseball, and boys’ and girls’ basketball) and replacing them with a more inclusive, “noncompetitive” intramural program. Jill Stevens, who was particularly bothered by the inclusion of swimming on the cut list, suggested everything from charging different fees for different sports to reducing ice time for the hockey teams. Both Schutt and John Bonnanzio also mentioned swimming as a sport they would like to see preserved.

Erickson, in response, stressed that he did not want to cut any sport; however, he said the athletic program is unsustainable in its current form and warned against the temptation of resorting to higher fees, which he said is a trap as it does not resolve the department’s structural deficit.

Business Manager Ken Leon explained that Erickson has had to dip into the athletic revolving account in each of the past several years to cover a $50,000 shortfall, but that it would only be possible for another year or two.

“There is going to be a point where it’s not going to work,” added Erickson, who also pointed to numerous “unseen cuts” the department has endured, the most glaring of which is the reduced schedule that all teams have been forced to accept.

Even after a lengthy discussion, the committee did not seem any closer to a solution Thursday night, with Schutt perhaps summing it up best: “We don’t want to cut any sport, but we have to do something.”

In other School Committee news:

* Leon provided a brief status report on the current (FY11) budget, noting that the latest projections show a surplus of approximately $104,000. That figure has been steadily declining since September due to unanticipated special education costs, and Leon said he expects it to dwindle further in the coming months.

* Police Chief Ken Berkowitz appeared before the committee to discuss the recent, unannounced search at Canton High School that netted “small amounts” of alcohol and drugs. Berkowitz said the search, conducted with the assistance of six specially trained dogs, was an overall success and underscored two realities: that the police and schools are doing a “good job” of drug prevention, but that substance use is still a concern in Canton.

“It’s a problem that we have in our schools; it’s a problem that we have in our community,” said Berkowitz, adding that he hopes to see the search repeated as part of an “ongoing maintenance program.”

While Berkowitz did say he felt the search at CHS was long overdue — he pointed to the successful program at Blue Hills that has existed for many years — both he and Schutt agreed that the police and public schools have an excellent relationship that should only grow stronger as a result of these joint efforts.

* Superintendent Jeff Granatino announced that the Hansen School will have to make up the extra day it lost due to concerns over snow on the school’s roof. He said the day is required in order to meet the state’s minimum standard of 180 school days; however, he is awaiting word from the Department of Education as to whether the day could be made up prior to the end of the year so as to avoid sending Hansen students and staff to school on Monday, June 27. He said administrators are currently looking into several “creative” solutions, including holding school on one day over April vacation.

* Granatino announced that he has hired April Goran to serve as the district’s new technology integration administrator beginning in mid April. Goran, who is currently the instructional technology specialist at Reading High School, will replace interim director of technology Colleen McCarthy, who stepped down earlier this year.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=3827

Posted by Jay Turner on Mar 17 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.