School Committee approves over 500K in cuts, fee hikes

Saddled with a total budget deficit of $1.57 million and with just over $920,000 left to cut, the Canton School Committee plodded through its list of suggested reductions over three-plus hours last week, managing to trim another $573,000 but leaving the most painful decisions for tonight’s meeting, which starts at 7 in the CHS distance learning lab.

All along, committee members had stressed how difficult this budget process was going to be, but it really started to show last Thursday as they anguished over various fee hikes and program cuts before a packed audience of concerned parents, student-athletes and staff.

The athletes in attendance were all members of the CHS golf team – one of three teams that had been slated for possible elimination along with gymnastics and swimming (later replaced with freshman baseball).

Not willing to go that route, however – at least not yet – committee members voted instead to raise the athletic user fee from $125 to $150 and left open the option of raising it another $45 to make it $195. They also approved, by a vote of 3-2, a $250 surcharge for hockey players and a $50 surcharge for swimmers to help offset rink and pool costs.

Another option that was discussed but ultimately tabled was the elimination of bus transportation to all away games held in Stoughton or Sharon for a total savings of $8,000. Committee member Reuki Schutt said the move, while not ideal, could be managed with carpooling and was a far better alternative to cutting a sport.

But others were more hesitant, fearing that the lack of bus transportation would place an added burden on coaches and parents, while CHS athletic director Danny Erickson described it as a “very big cut” that would “redefine what high school athletics looks like.”

Athletics, as has been the case in previous meetings, went on to dominate much of the discussion Thursday night, even though it generated a mere $33,000 in total savings.

By meeting’s end, newly appointed chairman John Bonnanzio seemed to have had enough of the sports talk.

“I don’t understand, truthfully, why we kick this dead horse year after year after year,” he said, referring to athletics.

Bonnanzio said the committee has lacked a guiding philosophy for the athletics program, and as a result, they continue to struggle with the same challenges year in and year out while allowing sports to “monopolize the conversation.”

Despite all the time spent on athletics, committee members did manage to finalize over a dozen other cuts, including one full-time teacher position at both the Hansen and Kennedy schools, a technology integration position, and the equivalent of one full-time custodial position.

At the high school, the committee voted to reduce both a library assistant and an English teacher position by 0.4; at the middle school, they eliminated an alternative education program and removed from consideration a 0.2 increase in an art teacher position.

In addition, the committee raised the high school parking fee and the bus user fee from $180 to $200, and approved a new $50 user fee for middle and high school extracurricular activities. They also broke with tradition and reluctantly agreed to charge the Recreation Department $15 per hour for use of the school gymnasiums.

The remainder of the reductions came from a variety of sources: projected savings in out-of-district tuition/transportation for special education students; elimination of advisor stipends for defunct extracurricular activities/clubs; a $15,000 reduction in the funds recently earmarked for homeless transportation; and a projected savings of $15,000 through salary attrition (when newer teachers replace higher paid retirees).

Lastly, the committee voted to cut one of the district’s school buses for a savings of $50,000. And while the move was an easy one compared to most other options, business manager Ken Leon stressed that bus applications would no longer be accepted past the annual June deadline.

Although they made a lot of headway last week, committee members also decided to postpone a number of votes – either because they were unable to reach a consensus or because they wanted to consider other options first.

For instance, they were very hesitant to cut the elementary PACE program – which serves over 100 gifted and talented students across three schools – and they were similarly uncomfortable with eliminating afterschool late buses at the middle and high schools.

At the same time, committee member Cindy Thomas suggested that they reconsider cuts in other areas of the budget, such as substitute teachers and department heads, and her colleagues strongly agreed. “I think we need to be looking at every avenue,” added Schutt.

In other School Committee news:

* Despite needing to come up with another $350,000 in cuts, the committee voted to formally certify the 2012 fiscal year operating budget at $30,440,978.

* After being voted in as the committee’s new chairman, Bonnanzio thanked Schutt for her three consecutive years of service in the role, noting that she “handled the job flawlessly” and has been a pleasure to work with. Also on Thursday, Cindy Thomas was reappointed vice chairman and Liz Salisbury was named secretary.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Apr 14 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.