Declining enrollment continues to set the tone for budget planning in the school district.
The Board of Education held a public budget meeting on Monday, April 29 in Midway and on Tuesday, April 30 that went over the details of the 2013-2014 budget.
Secretary-Treasurer Jeanette Hanlon said the drop in enrollment of 84 students last year was more than anticipated.
The district is expected to lose another 45 students in the coming school year – down to 1,268.
In 2013/2014 the district will receive $232,231 less in operating than in 2012/2013. With total revenue coming in at $15,580,840 the draft budget will be balanced through the loss of three teaching positions, one administration position, reduction in custodial time and by taking approximately $90,000 out of unrestricted surplus.
This will leave a balance in the unrestricted surplus of $712,119.
There were some 20 parents at the meeting who had come primarily to urge the board to fund full-time secretarial positions at West Boundary (WBES) and Greenwood/Midway Elementary Schools (GES/MES).
The parents told the board that they see the secretary as a key member of the school team.
“Think safety first,” said parent Jennifer Waygood. “Put staff back to full time.”
The previous board had cut funding for elementary school secretaries by five hours to 25 hours a week a few years ago.
But WBES Principal Brian Foy and the school parent advisory council (PAC) felt the position too important to lose and had funded the five hours through surplus supply budget money.
That pool of surplus money dried up earlier this year and the secretary is now working 25 hours per week.
So parents have been lobbying the board for a return to full-time status for the job. Adding to their concern, the board announced that in the fall a one-year pilot project will see Brian Foy take on the role of principal at all four west end elementary school.
The parents argue that the secretary’s hours should be increased to insure Foy has the administrative support he needs during the year of the pilot project.
Superintendent Michael Strukoff has proposed that both Foy and Jennifer MacDonald – who has been named to fill a part-time vice principal position at WBES – will have cell phones and after-school supervision staff will also have a phone.
The parents argue the $115 per month needed to bump a secretary up by five hours is small and should be funded by the board from money received for unique geographic factors.
GES/MES PAC chair Pat Grouette said the problems listed by the WBES are faced by her schools too. “Funding must be found for staff and student support,” she said.
Trustee Cathy Riddle acknowledged the parents were “making very valid points” and noted the trustees were in the room hearing them speak.
WBES PAC chair Jodi Klein presented two letters to the board supporting the request for more secretarial hours – one from a Beaverdell Elementary parent and the other from past WBES secretary Bonnie Kelly who said she’d had trouble finding hours in her day to fulfill all her tasks.
Parent Melanie Zane asked the board, “Please understand where we are coming from. We are scared.”
This was the last public meeting open for input before the budget goes to the board for any final revisions. The board will meet in-camera to discuss the draft before it is adopted on May 14.