In an overview of the proposed fiscal 2010 school budget of $11,039,663 presented at the April 13 School Committee meeting by Schools Superintendent Thomas Jefferson, he showed that despite a budget reduction of 1.6 percent from fiscal 2009, the stimulus money the district will receive from the federal government and the expanded Devens contract will offset the reductions the committee had to make to present a level-funded budget to the town. “It’s an irony that we are in better shape this year than last year,” he said.
Jefferson outlined the budget priorities for fiscal 2010, which include hiring a certified media specialist in response to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges guidelines, maintaining small class size, and providing adequate support staff. The stimulus funding will pay for professional development, technology in the classroom to support critical thinking skills and to meet the needs of all students, the purchase of additional assistive listening systems as needed, and more adaptive technology to support students with special needs.
While Harvard spends $12,429 per pupil, the percentage of the budget that comes from the town’s general fund is only 79.3 percent, Jefferson said. Harvard’s school budget uses a lower percentage of the municipal budget because the district requires user fees for sports and activities and there are additional outside revenue sources from the School Choice Program and the Devens contract. “This is where we stand out dramatically from the other towns,” Jefferson said.
Committee members cautioned that the town should not be overly optimistic about the stimulus funding and the Devens contract, since the economic outlook at the state level is still uncertain and the requirements of the stimulus funding prevent the committee from spending the money on recurring expenditures. The Devens contract will end eventually and the committee is worried that the town will become dependent on the funds from the contract. Jefferson said, “We don’t want to find ourselves in the same position as our colleagues in Shirley. When the Devens contract ended it had a catastrophic effect on their budget.”
