Wrentham Schools Approve 2014 Budget with $592K Increase

The Wrentham School Committee voted to approve 3-0 (with Lynn Desrochers and Eric Greenberg absent) superintendent Jeffrey Marsden’s proposed fiscal year 2014 budget for Wrentham Schools.

The budget, which Marsden said was to keep level services, has an increase of 6.2 percent in funding requests, or $592,981.

The revenue provided for the budget is estimated, especially since over $3.6 million of the budget is assumed from Chapter 70 State Funds. The Massachusets House and Senate haven't yet approved numbers for the funding. Marsden said it could change.

“We still don’t really know what those numbers are going to be,” he said. “It’s predicated on the tax increases put forth by the governor, in the additional tax package that he’s proposing. When you see that number you’re hoping, it’s the $3.6 million, but you’re not sure.”

Unknown costs in the budget could also fluctuate, but Marsden said in some cases this could be for the better. He said union negotiations with teacher and custodian unions are beginning. The schools are currently negotiating a transportation contract with a new company that Marsden said has a good chance of being lower than they expect.

“We should have that for the April 9 meeting,” he said.

Marsden said there are additional staff requests in this budget, which he said were to replace positions lost in past years. A part-time art teaching position, part-time music teaching position, full-time curriculum coach, full-time special education teacher and a full-time custodian position are all included in this year’s budget.

“In any school budget you’re going to 75 to 80-percent of costs to instruction (teachers),” he said.

Marsden said it is important to fill all of these positions, but added an added custodian would be very beneficial to the district because right now whenever one custodian is sick or requires time off, the district has to pay overtime to cover.

He added the special education teachers are also having a tough time, as the average caseload is 22 to 25 students per teacher.

“We thought it would be important to bring those numbers down,” he said. “We definitely need another special education teacher.”