School Committee Chairwoman Wants Council to Give School 'Fair Share' of State Funds

Just when an increase in the state budget provided a ray of hope for Watertown school officials, town officials reduced the funds heading to the schools by the same amount as the increase in state dollars, said Watertown School Committee Chairwoman Eileen Hsu-Balzer.

At Monday night's School Committee meeting, she wants to see the funds restored so that the Watertown Public Schools have as much money as they can.

"The School Committee’s FY14 budget request to Town Hall is extremely lean," Hsu-Balzer said. "The bottom line is a 4.77 percent increase over last year’sbudget. It is well below a level services budget."

School officials said their budget, despite being nearly 5 percent higher that the current year, will not provide the same services and programs as this year, Hsu-Balzer said. Much of the increase goes into programs that the district is mandated to provide by the state and federal governments, such as special education and transportation for students attending out-of-district programs for children with special needs.

"These mandated costs have continued to rise more quickly than our revenues, and therefore have taken, over time, larger and larger percentages of the total school budget," she said.

All but .27 percent comes from mandated programs, including special education, said Hsu-Balzer.

In late April, school officials learned that the state would reimburse the town for 73 perect of the cost of special education for the costliest students - those costing $60,000 or more a year. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald built the budget based on the assumption that the state would reimburse just 60 percent of the cost through the Special Education Circuit Breaker Fund.

Hsu-Balzer said she was then surprised to see Town Manager Michael Driscoll's budget proposal on April 24, which had less money that she expected for the schools.

"The School Department budget allocation that was proposed by Town Hall at the April 24 Town Council meeting reduces the School Department’s budget request by the very amount of dollars that thisincrease in Circuit Breaker funds would provide," Hsu-Balzer said. "The Town Manager frankly stated that basis for his budget decision."

During the Council meeting, Driscoll said that he sees the budget as one that supports the Watertown Schools.

"The submitted Fiscal Year 2014 budget continues the very strong commitment to education," Driscoll said. 

The increase of $1.34 million is 3.79 percent over the Fiscal 2013 budget. Driscoll noted that it is $28,110 more than the School Committee's original proposal. The overall town budget is up 3.92 percent to $107 million, Driscoll said.

Hsu Balzer said the Circuit Breaker money is intended to provide some relief for school district from the rising cost of special education. She said she hopes the Town Council will come to a different conclusion on the school budget.

"Please ask yourselves if the intent of the legislators of our state, to improve education by reducing the increasingly crushing burden of mandated Special Education costs, is reflected in the proposed Town Hall budget," Hsu-Balzer said. "I am hopeful that the Town Council will give this question their thoughtful consideration."