Madison Schools Proposed Budget Increases Spending by 2.49 Percent

By Brian McCready, Madison Patch Editor

The Madison Board of Education is requesting a $53.82 million budget for fiscal 2015-16, which represents a 2.49 percent spending increase over the current budget of $52.51 million.

Madison Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice said the main reasons for the budgetary increase is 1.80 percent of the proposed 2.49 percent increase is attributed to contractual obligations including salaries, mandated services, debt payments, insurance, transportation and special education.

Enrollment declines and impact on staffing

Scarice said enrollment is projected to decline by 100 students near year, which is impacting the budget request.

“This does impact the budget since we are reducing staffing by 3.6 “Full time equivalencies” (FTE),” Scarice said. “If we did not reduce staffing by this amount, all things being equal, the budget request would represent a 2.72% increase. The staff reduction lowers that request to a 2.49% increase.”

The district has managed staffing since declining enrollment began a few years ago. On average, for every decline of 20 students in enrollment, the district has reduced a staff member. That ratio has continued for the past five years and will continue as enrollment declines,” added Scarice.

Scarice’s thoughts on the budget and what it accomplishes

“We believe that the request is reasonable, even in tough economic times. As a district, we developed a plan for preparing our students for a very different world. The challenges of the 21st century are profound.

The challenges of work, citizenship, and life have become more and more complex as a result of the information age and globalization. We had to ask ourselves, what are the learning goals of our school district? They cannot be simply to perform well on a test.

Students must not simply accumulate knowledge, but must be able to do something with knowledge. The capacities to create, to problem-solve complex problems across disciplines, to work effectively with others, to be a self-directed learner…these are the capacities that will serve our students well when they leave our schools.

The plan for curriculum development, and for powerful learning experiences, is something that has remained consistent over the past three years. Even with a modest increase over the contractual obligations we face, we believe that we can do this work and truly take our district to the next level. As a district we take great pride in leading the way for others.”

The Board of Finance will take action on the budget that will be presented to the community for the April 21 public hearing. The process culminates with a referendum on the budget in May.