School Committee Requests Town Budget Override

As the final budget numbers become clearer, School Committee members are looking at several options to keep the department from falling behind next year.

One of the budget options the members discussed at their meeting last night was an override according to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.

"In response to a suggestion by the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night that they would consider an override if the School Committee told them what they need, School Committee Chairman Erin H. Canzano said she highly favored the idea," the Telegram reports.

The possibility of an override failing to pass a vote by residents however, led to discussions around what can be done to reduce the budget to the town's current guidelines.

"Superintendent Joseph M. Sawyer presented two reduced fiscal 2014 budget figures to the School Committee, including a level-service budget of $52.36 million and a cut-service budget of $51.23 million that would require several cuts in teaching positions," the Telegram reports.

The options of raising pre-K and kindergarten tuition costs, along with an increase in bus fees and the elimination of some non-mandated bus routes.