Easton Schools Want A 2.31 Percent Increase

The Easton school board asked for a new budget of $15.02 million—nearly $340,000 (2.31 percent) more than last year’s budget of $14.68 million.

On Tuesday night, March 8, Easton Board of Education Chairman Dan Underberger presented the schools' proposed budget (which is attached in .pdf form to this article) to the Board of Finance at the .

Art and music cuts

The budget attempts a remedy to the weakened music program at (HKMS), restoration of a full-time world language course, and restoration the halved art instruction at (SSES).

Currently, 55 percent of HKMS students have no musical instruction, the school board said. Chorus classes have a cap of 25 students per section. Students who do not participate in music have 158 days of gym and health class; those with musical instruction have 68 days of gym and health, according to the board’s presentation.

Gym class sizes now hold 58 or 59 students for two teachers, something the school board wants to see reduced to 48 or 50.

A loss of an art teacher at SSES has also decreased total instruction time in art classes by half, the school board said.

Reduction of a sixth grade world language instruction has been reduced by two-thirds since 2009, landing Easton well behind Redding, which starts its full-year world language program in fifth grade, the school board said.

Preserving class size?

One of the concerns the school board had was to keep the current average class sizes at HKMS and SSES of around 20 or 21 students.

C. Lee Hanson, member of the finance board, raised dispute.

“You don’t have to” keep classes that size, Hanson said. Hanson pushed for the school board to increase class sizes in order to re-establish the art and music programs.

“[I’m asking for this] not to save money, but to save kids’ education,” said Hanson, who saw the cutting of art and music as a “sin.”

The school board insisted that it wasn’t that easy.

“This budget does contain remedies for art and music restorations,” said Superintendent Michael Cicchetti.

Cicchetti said that he didn’t think it was “educationally sound” to increase class sizes, citing his own experiences as a teacher.

Budget drivers

The breakdown of the budget is virtually identical to last year’s request—40 percent to salaries, 11 percent to health insurance, 19 percent to special education, with the remaining 30 percent of the budget allocated to administration, operation/physical plant, transportation and other general expenses. Last year, one percent more of the budget went to special education.

Contractual salary obligations ($302,960), health insurance ($79,733) and utility fees ($10,998) were the three primary budget drivers.

The school board must also compensate for a loss of $114,000 of federal stimulus fund.

The new budget asks for a full time equivalent music teacher, another gym teacher, a world language teacher, and restoration of common planning time—something which was impacted by the halving of the art program. Total restorations, if approved, will cost $84,233.

Addition of an art teacher was considered a “deferred priority,” according to Underberger.

Other additions to the budget include maintenance to SSES heating-related PVC piping issues, the addition of a panic button with a direct line to the police, locker restoration, and increases in additional hours for an HKMS office assistant and kindergarten para professionals.

The total cost of additions is $138,726.

The school board managed to save $391,389 from areas such as transportation, special education outside tuition, textbooks, central office health insurance, and two retirements.

Declining enrollment

Enrollment in Easton schools is predicted to decline by 30 to 40 students per year so that by the 2019-2020 school year, it's predicted there will be 420 students less than the current enrollment of about 1,100 students.

Past enrollment predictions have been “pretty close,” with a margin of error of three or four, said the school board.

With the recidivism of student enrollment, a reduction of teachers and faculty would be eminent in the next decade.

The budget “is commendable, but not an insignificant amount,” said Board of Finance Chairman Andy Kachele.

The finance board will be meeting next month to vote on the budget before it is passed on to the public.