When the selectmen approved the town’s draft budget for fiscal 2019 last month, they called for a reduction of $100,000 in the schools’ budget request. Earlier this week, School Committee members voted for specific cuts to meet that target.
Superintendent of Schools Linda Dwight and Peter Rowe, the school business manager, proposed several changes to reduce the schools’ share of the fiscal 2019 omnibus budget from $13.5 million to $13.4 million. They cut $15,000 that had been allocated for summer professional development programs for teachers. Another $12,500 in savings resulted from the retirement of Athletic Director Pam Alexander and her replacement by Dave Boisvert at a lower salary level. And the Pupil Services division set aside plans to convert a half-time position to full time, saving $37,500.
Those budget cuts totaled $65,000. To reach the required $100,000, School Committee members agreed to take $35,000 from the Devens fund instead of from town revenues. The fund holds the money MassDevelopment pays Harvard schools for educating students from Devens. Chairwoman Mary Traphagen acknowledged that the committee was reluctant to draw down the fund, but she said it was necessary to avoid budget cuts that would affect student learning.
Rather than withdraw so much from the Devens account, committee member John Ruark suggested putting off the replacement of two defective HVAC control boards, which cost about $14,000 each. But Dwight said replacing the boards had been postponed through several budget cycles already.
After a long discussion, the committee voted unanimously to support the cuts as outlined, along with the use of the Devens fund.
