School Committee Budget Meeting

March 24, 2011

Next meeting:  Monday, March 28^th:  Public Hearing, 7:30 p.m. at Day Middle School Auditorium; speakers can speak for 3 minutes

Info from Superintendent:

High school principals are looking at course registrations.  Monday night, prior to public hearing, the high school principals will present their expected staffing for next year—they need this time for analysis and to share with faculty first.

FAQs:

Elementary:

1. If the district charged a fee for 3^rd grade recorder what would fee be?  NPS can’t charge a fee, because the class is part of instructional time and given to all 3^rd graders.
2. If recorder is eliminated, would that time be added to the teachers load?  Yes, but no cost to this.
3. What is the actual amount of time for the recorder if there is no separate section?  The curriculum coordinator is still considering options, and involving discussion with music teachers.
4. That about these questions regarding 4^th grade chorus?  Same answers above apply.
5. Are any of elementary schools outliers in resource and equity model?  Resources are proposed to be added to Countryside, M-S in terms of literacy; adding math coach helps with equity across all the elementary schools.
6. What is the cost to increase art from 45 minutes to 50?  1 FTE

Middle School

1. If Latin is cut at the middle schools, what happens to Latin students in 7^th grade?  The 8^th grade program costs  .8 FTE if it were to continue for 7^th graders.
2. Are there options to provide online courses for Latin?  It depends on numbers—could cost the same as hiring staff.  The real issue is quality—what kind of quality program is available.  It is worth considering, and is a great role for EDCO, if there were to be courses with peer districts, shared resources.
3. If Newton cuts MS Latin, where will students go?  Will they end up in study Hall?  We don’t want study halls in the middle schools—Latin is offered during extension when electives are taught.  The students would be absorbed into other classes, increasing class size for electives.
4. What is the relationship between the in-school drama program (grades 6-8) and after school drama opportunities?  There is no formal relationship.  A student can still be in show even if they do not have drama during school day.

High School:

1. Newton South Parking Fee:  revenue is expected to remain constant with a price decrease because NPS is hoping to get more students.  The price was raised this year, but NPS got less money because students didn’t buy as many.  $56-$58K in past, collected only $50K this year.  Therefore the prices will go back to $180 per semester, $360 per year.
2. What is the impact on the high school of reduction in Latin at the middle schools?  The numbers at high school are going to drop off; expected to lose roughly between 50 – 75% of students who would take Latin in the middle schools.
3. What is the impact on drama program from changes at the middle schools?  Not much is expected.
4. Can the school building rental be reorganized for FY12?  It is possible, but needs attention in order to make it happen.
5. What is the cost of the supercap?  This year, 6 or fewer requests received about the supercap—an estimated loss of $1000 to $1500
6. Transportation:  If NPS were to keep to option 4 (K- 6 only greater than 1 miles), it would save 7 buses. Under Option 5, the minimum required by law, NPS would save 22 buses and only provide service to those greater that 2 miles from school in Grades K – 6.
7. Medicaid reimbursement services:  there are some reimbursements—but the whole process is very complicated and contains personal information; NPS will pursue if there are dollars available.

Budget Discussion: SC members asked several questions, and the discussions included:

Þ   How much confidence the staff had that the Student Services plan was realistic and wouldn’t result in the need for cost overruns:  the staff did a great deal of analysis and used realistic and accurate figures from this year.  If they had the chance, the staff  would have a reserve of 10 – 15 aides, in case new structures and arrangements do not work.

Þ   How to think about the balance between class size and breadth of programming.  The Superintendent said this was a real challenge and to remember that a class size problem affects a whole grade at a school, rather than just one class.  So far it looks like next year’s class size will be about the same as this year.  At the March 31^st budget meeting, the staff will present a list of priorities in case more money is found.  A brief mention listed librarians first, followed by art and music.

Þ   What cuts in Latin at the middle schools means for other classes.   Latin happens during extension periods and would have usual class size.  Currently that is often under 20 due to Latin, art, and music electives at this time.  Cutting Latin means adding the students back into these other classes.   In the end, this cut would have no effect on class size and doesn’t affect the whole grade–this makes it an easier choice to cut.

Þ   What the effect of the supercap will be.  While the supercap might not apply to many families this year, with the increase in fees next year, has there been analysis of how many more families will be affected?  In theory, the supercap is intended to cover 2 children who take the bus and take three sports.  There are individual caps on bus and athletic fees.  One of the most important things to do next year is do evaluate the data regarding these changes.

Þ   What areas of the budget are concerning.  These areas include ISS—support for teachers and the school during the day.  If this is too small, NPS will have to use the budget for substitute teachers to supplement.  Also the area of tuition for students who are placed outside the district is concerning, because those costs have been growing lately.

Þ   How to adjust Use of School Building (USB) fees.  The special Class C permits that relate to organizations that use several NPS middle schools on weekends is being adjusted to more accurately reflect the costs of cleaning the schools after their weekend use.  Also, the work on NNSH fees and ability to book the space is being considered.

Straw Vote: This is a vote taken to determine where the members of the SC are in their thinking.  This can change given public input, more information from the staff, or an increase in available revenue.   The vote was 8 to 1 in favor of the proposed budget.

Overall, everyone spoke about the dedication and effort that the NPS staff gave to this budget.  There was creative thinking and an openness to explore new ways to achieve their goals.  While no one is happy with the cuts that need to be made, many SC members felt that they needed to rely on the expertise and best judgement of the staff in determining educational priorities.

One SC member dissented, and felt that some of the proposed project expansion should be pulled back to preserve current programming.