Newton School Committee Gives Initial Approval to $187.7M Budget

The Newton School Committee Tuesday night gave its initial OK to the superintendent's proposed $187.7 million fiscal 2014 budget.

The budget, which focuses on restructuring special education and adding teachers to handle increased student enrollment, was supported in an 8-0-1 straw vote.  

"It's awe-inspiring to hear the thought that went into this [budget], to come up with the right balance," said Ward 8 committee member Margie Ross Decter. "I know it's not easy and I appreciate those hard decisions."

Although he commended the amount of work that went into the budget, Ward 1 committee member Geoff Epstein abstained in the straw vote, citing concerns over the district's technology funding.

Each budget season, Epstein said, the district's technology and maintenance always end up being "trade-offs" for other items, such as measures for smaller class sizes.

"I'm happy with 98 percent of the budget," Epstein said. "It's a problem for me when we're going ahead into the digital education age...and we keep funding digital infrastructure at a 50 percent level."

Technology was just one of the topics brought up prior to Tuesday night's straw vote, as committee members had a chance to get in some last-minute questions about the budget and the programs it will fund in the 2013-2014 school year. 

Ward 5 committee member Steve Siegel brought up questions around the new part-time assistant principals that will be added to three elementary schools, and whether it is a "pilot" for future administrative structure at other Newton elementary schools.

"This is not really a pilot -- this is really a proposal to look at some administration at the elementary level," answered Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Joe Russo. "I think we will take a good part of next year to see how the resources are being allocated...what duties the assistant principal will undertake and evaluate to see if there is value in moving it to other schools."

The three part-time principals, who will also be teachers in their schools, will be implemented at  Countryside, Bowen and Memorial-Spaulding elementary schools.

Overall, the superintendent's fiscal 2014 budget adds more than 50 new teaching positions, the majority of which are being added due to increased student enrollment.

One budget area that does not change in fiscal 2014 is the department's activity fee revenue, something that has been a topic of debate over the last couple of years.

Two years ago, the district faced a $4.4 million budget gap and decided to roll out new and increased student activity and sports fees to help create some additional revenue. Those fees have remained unchanged since the start of the 2012-2013 school year. 

However, school administrators have been studying the effects of the fees and whether they have lowered the club/sport participation rates in the middle and high schools. The administrators are expected to give a presentation on their findings next month.

Decter questioned whether those findings -- and any proposed fee changes -- would somehow affect the fiscal 2014 budget.

"If there are some recommendations and discussions that recommend some tweaks [to fees], how does that impact the budget?" Decter asked. "[The fees] are a revenue source."

Both Superintendent David Fleishman and Deputy Superintendent Sandy Guryan clarified that the School Department will be paying close attention to various funding sources, such as Chapter 70 reimbursement, and will take into account budget numbers with any new fee recommendations.

"We'll present as much information as we can and make a recommendation from there," Guryan said, noting that any reductions in fees would likely result in some kind of budget "tradeoff."

The School Committee will meet again this Thursday, April 4 to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget. Parents and community members are welcome to attend and voice their opinion starting at 7 p.m. in the Education Center.

The committee is expected to take a final vote on the fiscal 2014 budget next Monday, April 8.