School Budget Tight, Cuts Anticipated: Brookline Superintendent

BROOKLINE, MA — The school department will have to trim as much as $3.5 million from the next budget on top of $2.5 million cuts the school district has planned over the past three years to balance the budget, according to Brookline Interim Superintendent Ben Lummis.

"The financial news about the year ahead is difficult," he wrote in a letter home to parents and guardians Friday on the heals of a presentation to the School Committee Thursday.

In the presentation to the school committee Lummis said public schools have made significant cuts to balance budgets in the past, but it's not enough between less revenue coming in than the district and unanticipated costs.

The story begins with the 2018 override, he said. The district requested $9.8 million for three years in the form of an override to help with the cost of their school needs. The voters didn't approve the whole amount. Instead, voters approved closer to $8.4 million. And the schools only actually garnered $7.4 million.

"PSB is actually receiving $2.4 million less than projected," Lummis said.

Where is all the money going?

Lummis said some 95.2 percent of the school budget goes to personnel costs. Much of that is salary related. Full time teachers get a 2 percent cost of living increase each year for staff and steps baked into contracts, that include a 3 percent or 5 percent salary increase for every year of employment.

The presentation shows how the district has made cuts in expenses, supplies, and other areas to make up for unanticipated costs in personnel, special education and transportation, and for decreases in revenue from the 2018 override.

Some ways to solve the problem could be to cut staff, reduce some programs or consolidate them, increase class size. The district has asked principals and curriculum coordinators and directors to recommend other cost saving measures, and staff will review them in December and give the School Committee a recommendation in January.

"I do understand that this news will cause unease and concern, especially because we do not have clear answers at this point. It will take time and thoughtful planning to work our way through the budget process. I ask for your patience as our educational leaders and educators develop ideas and ways of finding solutions."

District coordinators, directors, principals, and members of the district leadership team will be working to identify potential cost savings over the coming weeks and Lummis said he plans to share more information with our staff in December. The School Committee will be looking into it, too he said.

"It's important that we get going early to address and find solutions," Lummis told Patch. "It's a little worse than we were expecting. We're going to have to work together to be thoughtful and find solutions. "

It's going to take some time.

Watch the meeting recorded by Brookline Interactive group up top.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).