ESSER funds end in Sept. 2024, resulting in loss of six positions
Business Manager Dave Libby presented the first draft of the 2024-2025 school budget yesterday. There will be two more budget presentations, and the expectation is that the numbers will change, especially given that the district is still in the process of negotiating contracts with all employees.
The budget’s goal is to help realize the district’s strategy: “The Tewksbury Public Schools Community believes that our educational program will reflect our collective Vision of a Learner. Our consistent, observable growth among our students and staff will be evident in the achievement of academic, social, and emotional success in school and far beyond.”
The school budget consists of four parts. Three — salaries, operating costs and capital outlays — are managed by the School Committee, while fixed costs are managed by the town. School spending makes up 60% of the town budget. Learn more about the overall budget here.
Every year the school-side budget is reviewed and recommended by the School Committee, then it goes to Town Manager Richard Montuori and the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee then votes to recommend adoption, before sending all budgets to May Town Meeting for final approval by voters.
Formulating the budget still has some challenges. As mentioned above, none of the 2025-2026 contracts have been completed. There is only six months of data for the Center Elementary School. ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) Fund money will not be available after September 2024. And the district is looking at a restructuring of the preschool program with more space in both the Dewing and the Heath Brook.
Member Rich Russo asked how many positions would be lost with the end of ESSER funding. The district will eliminate six principal support positions, while five positions have been absorbed in the budget: three adjustment counselors, a nurse and an ESL teacher.
Some areas of focus will come with multiple contingencies, depending on how collective bargaining is settled and assessing personnel based on dropping enrollment. The district is also searching for opportunities to save money through consolidation or restructuring transportation, utilities, technology, supplies and maintenance. Russo asked if charging a fee to either ride the bus or drop off at school have been considered. Libby and Superintendent Brenda Regan shared they had looked into charging for buses last year but ultimately decided not to go ahead with that.
The district is in good shape in regard to technology due to an upgrade five years ago, but there is still new technology the district may want to take advantage of. A revamp of copier services is coming since the copy contract expires this year. And there is also spending planned for ongoing building improvements, like HVAC, plumbing and security.
Ultimately, the district is looking for a 2.63% budget increase over last year.
If you include fixed costs like heath insurance, Medicare and retirement, the increase is 3.17%.
Russo also inquired about any plans to consolidate in light of declining enrollment, noting that TMHS can hold 1,500 students but has approximately 700 students currently. He thinks the district may have to be creative to cut some costs. One last point he made was that salaries are currently 70% of the school budget, and the proposed budget plans for a 3% increase in teacher salaries, meaning any increase to that bottom line will result in cutting resources elsewhere.
“We’re not going to be cutting anything operationally,” said Russo. “It’s gonna be very difficult to do that without cutting out services that support our goals.” His concern is that for every 1% additional — beyond the 3% in the budget — that goes to salaries, there’s a possibility of adding an extra half a student per class, raising current class sizes.
Chair Bridget Garabedian shared that she and Vice-Chair Kayla Biagioni-Smith attended the Town Manager’s budget presentation to the Select Board and encouraged all the members to watch the video. Garabedian also said she wants “to give credit to the school principals, leadership team that has kind of helped, at least at the district level, keep us on a good path and where we need to go.”
The full PowerPoint presentation can be found here. You can read up on the latest negotiations between the District and the Tewksbury Teachers Association here.
[…] Dave Libby presented the second budget public hearing. You can see our reporting about the first here. The only difference from the last public hearing is that Libby reported 6% growth in the Shawsheen […]
[…] budget to be approved at May Regular Town Meeting. Our original budget presentation reporting is here, and updates made at the last School Committee are here. Libby’s full presentation can be […]
[…] Budget articles relate to spending and usually pass with little discussion. Town manager Richard Montuori has done presentations on the budget, including this one to the Select Board, and you can dig into the details here. Tewksbury Public Schools Business Manager Dave Libby has likewise provided several budget presos. Here’s a summary. […]