The Milton School Administration together with the School Committee held an open hearing on the FY11 budget. In a presentation that detailed cuts and costs, Ms. Gormley, Superintendent of Schools explained the impacts at all levels of the system. She was joined by Matt Gillis, School Business Administrator, and John Phelan, Assistant Superintendent. The good news was that the bad news was not as bad as it might have been.
As Glenn Pavlicek, School Committee member explained, the Warrant Committee was anticipating a 10% cut in local aid. The cut in local aid that the legislature recently discussed was 4%. So, the schools may actually have more money available than has been budgeted. (Editors note: the budget process is almost impossible to understand nevermind manage. This is not the fault of town officials. Between the Governor and the legislature – what one branch of government has approved and is pending vs what another is about to propose is anyone’s guess. The Warrant Committee therefore puts a stake in the ground and takes a very conservative approach. It is a wise approach. It doesn’t make the cuts town departments like the schools need to make any less painful.)
You can find the Administration’s complete budget presentation here.
One of the more enlightening moments of the discussion was when John Phelan presented his FAQs. These included but were not limited to:
Q: Explain the use of stimulus funds.
A:These one time funds will be used to recover lost jobs.
Q: How many staff will be cut and what services will be lost?
A: Currently, there will be 24.4 FTE’s cut and all workgroups will be impacted.
Q: How many teachers are there in the Milton Public Schools?
A: There are 282 teachers and 486 FTEs (FTE = full-time equivalent).
Q: What is the average class size?
A: Class sizes average 21 – 25 but it varies by building.
(The Administration will be posting his complete FAQs on the school web site.)
Phelan reviewed options that the Language Committee has developed with regard to how foreign language instruction may be delivered. These include combining language instruction for certain schools. For example, all French Immersion students for Glover and Tucker may attend Tucker year 1 then move to Glover year 2 and alternate. Another option, one Ms. Gormley stated she is not in favor of, would be capping the program. She said, “You pay your taxes. No one wants their child’s destiny picked out of a hat.”
A number of audience members asked about overrides and how they work. Mr. Lovely explained that they were grassroots efforts started by members of the community who formed a committee and waged relatively short, intense campaigns. Any decision to put an override on the ballot has to be approved by the Board of Selectmen. Lovely did not see an override as a likely scenario.
Other residents asked about union concessions and participation in GIC (GIC is an insurance program). Bill White rose to say, “We are not anti-union; but we need shared sacrifice. We can’t keep doing this.”