UPDATED: Framingham Superintendent Wants $6.6 Million More to Run School District

Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott will present his proposed fiscal year 2016 budget before Selectmen tonight at the Memorial Building.

The Selectmen’s meeting starts at 7 p.m., and Scott’s presentation is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Superintendent wants $6.6 million more to run the school district, which is categorizes as a Level 3 district by the Commonwealth.

Of the district’s 13 elementary, middle and high schools, only Framingham High and Dunning elementary are ranked as a Level 1 school by the Commonwealth. Level 1 is the highest ranking a school district can receive. (King Elementary, in its first year, has no ranking at the moment.)

Scott is proposing a $116 million budget for the 2015-16 school year, a $6.6 million increase over the current budget of $109.4 million.

Framingham’s Chief Financial Officer Mary Ellen Kelley is only recommending Framingham Town Meeting approve a public school budget of $114.9 million for the 2015-16 school year. The $114.9 million figure recommends a level services budget for the school district.

The difference is $1.1 million.

The Framingham School Committee will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, March 17 on the proposed budget. At that time, parents and community members can give their input to the proposed $116 million request.

The School Committee is scheduled to approve the budget on Tuesday, March 30.

Framingham Town Meeting will have the final say on the budget this spring.

Town Meeting can only approve or reduce the total budget amount for the school district.

Town Meeting, along with the 7-member elected Framingham School Committee, does not have line item-by- line item approval of the budget, just the total amount, under the state’s educational reform laws.

In comparison Framingham Town Manager and Framingham Selectmen, and ultimately Framingham Town Meeting, does have line item say on each municipal department’s budgets.

Superintendent Scott said about $800,000 of the proposed budget is for additional “essential” staff, including a new principal at the King School.

In 2015-16, Dunning Elementary School Principal Kim Taylor will become King’s full-time principal, overseeing 4 kindergarten classes and 4 first grade classes.

Presently, there is only 4 kindergarten classes at King Elementary, and Hemeneway Elementary’s principal is sharing administration duties between the two schools.

King Elementary, explained Scott, needs $112,500 for a principal and $200,000 for four teachers, for a total of $312,500.

Scott is also proposing a $666,429 increase in the buildings & grounds department and a $619,800 increase in the transportation budgets.

Special education out-of-district tuition’s line item is increase from $9.9 million to $11.1 million in FY16.

There is a $237,000 proposed increase in the technology department to $1.2 million in the FY16 budget.

And a $101,480 proposed increase for the human resources department to $1.16 million in the 2015-16 school year.

Some schools have proposed increases, and others proposed budget decreases, in Scott’s FY16 budget.

• Framingham High - increase of $274,053 to $17.056 million (level 1)
  
• Cameron Middle - increase of $95,122 to $5.426 million (level 2)
  
• Fuller Middle - increase of $116,044 to $5.480 million (level 3)
  
• Walsh Middle - increase of $130,840 to $6.933 million (level 2)
• Barbieri elementary - increase of $266,324 to $5.406 million (level 2)
• Brophy Elementary - increase of $54,427 to $4.216 million (level 3)
• Dunning Elementary - increase of $73,710 to $4.425 million (level 1)
• Hemenway Elementary - decrease of $389,826 to $4.603 million (level 2)
• King Elementary - increase of $348,569 to $905,634 (no DESE ranking)
• McCarthy Elementary - increase of $301,989 to $5.869 million (level 3)
• Potter Road Elementary - increase $198,955 to $3.936 million (level 2)
• Stapleton Elementary - decrease of $145,510 to $4.152 million (level 2)
• Wilson Elementary - increase of $244,730 to $5.347 million (level 3)
• BLOCKS Preschool - decrease of $269,475 to $2.326 million (no DESE ranking)

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Updated to fix typo. Barbieri was listed as level 3 school at 4:30 a.m. It is a level 2 school.