Font ResizeTOWNSEND -- The North Middlesex Regional School District committee is expected to vote on a budget on Thursday.
Numbers discussed at a five-plus-hour meeting Monday night have the committee looking at several possible scenarios: A $45,137,082 budget, referred to as the "level services" budget, was used in the budget discussions that night. According to Superintendent Maureen Marshall, the level services budget would fund staffing patterns to provide services comparable to the 2011-2012 school year, which had a bottom line of $43,318,684.
The committee meets 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Educational Support Center at the Peter Fitzpatick School, 45 Main St. in Pepperell.
School Committee Chairwoman Susan Robbins said the group will most likely by considering a budget equal to or slightly higher or lower than the "level-services" number.
A district budget is due to Pepperell, Ashby and Townsend select boards on Friday, 30 days after residents rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override for fiscal year 2013.
Line-by-line walkthroughs for each school, SPED, plant and facilities, technology and other budget sheets were conducted; the level-services budget is a $1,818,398 increase from FY12.
In her budget, Varnum Brook Elementary Principal Pauline Cormier showed an increase of $63,729 on special-education teacher salaries. The committee asked why an increase was needed. Cormier said current staffing is inadequate. More and more kids require special attention,
"I've been seeing the same names for a lot of years, I think the lack of special-needs staffing has caused this," Cormier said. "I need to provide resources."
Robbins agreed, saying a lot of things are overdue in the district.
Ashby Elementary had the highest cost increase, up 17 percent. The budget called for three new teachers due to enrollment increases, explained Principal Anne Cromwell-Gapp.
The school has 68 new kindergarteners, requiring a new kindergarten teacher and paraprofessional, and increased fourth-grade enrollment requires another teacher there, she said. U.S. Department of Education jobs funding, which helps pay teachers salaries, is drying up, and Ashby Elementary is needing to pay for that.
In total, the budget is increasing $217,159, $158,318 of which is the new teacher pay.
Class-size parity is an issue.
"Ashby goes unscathed, Pepperell gets beat up," said Pepperell resident Alan Leao. "Dr. Cormier is talking major issues."
Marshall said that if Ashby has a grade of 35, it will be split into classes of 17 and 18, where Pepperell may have to deal with a manageable class of 25 to 29 because of budget constraints.
Other Education Jobs funding losses are coming at Nissitissit and Hawthorne Brook middle schools.
Nissitissit is funding three teacher, a salary increase of $271,815 and a total increase of $305,575.
Hawthorne is funding one teacher, increasing salaries $109,606, with an overall budget is going up $113,494.
The elementary and middle schools are saving in textbook costs; Envisions course books were purchased saving $52,676 at Spaulding Elementary, $65,495 at Varnum and $21,099 at Hawthorne.
While introducing the budget, Marshall discussed budget changes since 2008:
* 2008 to 2009, 3 percent reduction.
* 2009 to 2010, 2 percent reduction.
* 2010 to 2011, 4 percent reduction.
* 2011 to 2012, 1 percent increase.
* 2012 to 2013, proposed 4 percent increase.
Marshall added that district teachers went on to attempt to dispel rumors and complaints she had heard, including those about salaries. In 2011, she said, the district's are less than many in the area, averaging $66,248.
This number was far below a group of schools located in the surrounding area such as Harvard, $79,461, Shrewsbury, 72,532 and Nashoba Tech, $70,520, according to numbers she presented.
The district spends $322.10 per pupil, Marshall added, far below the state average of $446.64.
Chapter 70 moneys is another reason for the increase since funding from the Commonwealth that offsets assessments has declined, she said. In 2003, 63 percent of the school's budget came from chapter 70, and the next year, declines began. By fiscal 2007, it was 53.6 percent Chapter 70 funded, in fiscal 2012, it dropped to 50.8 percent.
After the last budget failed to achieve funding through the override, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education authorized a budget of $3,609,890 for July, one-12th of the FY12 budget. That authorizartion will continue until district communities appropriate an approved FY13 budget or until Dec. 1.
Upon meeting that deadline, according to Marshall, the DESE will come in and analyze past years 'budgets and make assessments to determine a budget to be adopted by the district.
Follow Luke at twitter.com/LSNashobaPub
