Select Board mulls special TM to address $2M school deficit
By Mike BergerSurprised by the School Department’s recent announcement of a nearly $2 million shortfall caused by COVID-19 spending, the Canton Select Board will meet next Tuesday, October 6, to decide whether to call a special town meeting to address the issue.
Although Select Board Chair John Connolly said he supports the schools and understands the reasons for the shortfall, he was caught off guard by the severity of it. School Business Administrator Barry Nectow had alerted School Committee members to the situation on September 17 and delved deeper at last week’s meeting with projections for added staffing costs. He also notified Finance Director Randy Scollins a few weeks ago about the possibility of the shortfall.
On Tuesday night, Nectow and School Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fischer-Mueller met with the Select Board Tuesday night and detailed the expenses for technology, cleaning supplies, protective equipment, tents and additional staff as the School Department prepared for three learning models (remote, hybrid and in-person) as well as the district’s full-year Remote Learning Pathway program.
Total COVID-related costs for FY21 are projected at around $4.6 million, and even after exhausting all available federal and state assistance and tapping into operating funds they are still looking at a deficit of almost $2 million. The School Committee plans to take a closer look at its budget plan when it reconvenes tonight at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
“I am really disappointed to hear that on September 29 with the students returning to school we are in a $2 million hole,” said Connolly. “In fact, I think we are blindsided by this. The taxpayers have a right to know and we really have to all work together on this.”
Connolly said the Select Board will consider all options at its October 6 meeting before deciding whether to call a special town meeting. Going that route would also open the possibility of adding new warrant articles and addressing some of the outstanding articles from the June annual town meeting.
On a brighter fiscal note, Scollins reported that the town saw savings of $1.4 million in unspent appropriations during the last fiscal year, with significant savings realized by the Fire Department, DPW and School Department. These savings, combined with an increase in local receipts, has helped the town rebound from the economic conditions of COVID-19, Scollins said.
In other major news from Tuesday night’s meeting, the Select Board voted unanimously to appoint Arafat Knight, a Marine Corps veteran with over 15 years of experience in the mental health and medical fields, as the town’s new veterans agent. Other candidates for the position were Sean Butrica, a computer scientist who has worked with the veterans offices at Massasoit and Bridgewater State, and Adam Gunn, a recently retired Navy Regional career counselor …
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Oct 2 2020. Filed under Uncategorized.
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