Budget Subcommittee to Review Deficit

The School Committee has scheduled a budget subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, August 31, to discuss the district's $1.5 million deficit, which was recently uncovered.

The subcommittee will meet at 7 p.m. in the committee's room on the sixth floor of Arlington High School.

On Thursday, committee chairman Joseph Curro Jr. made a motion, which passed unanimously, to have the budget subcommittee review the deficit with outside auditors and bring back findings to the committee's meeting on November 9.

"It's important that we as a School Committee make a concerted effort to learn from our mistakes," he said at the time.

Last week, the district uncovered a $1.5 million deficit to close fiscal year 2010. Administrators said the gap was due to a substantial decrease in expected revenues, some of which may still be received in fiscal year 2011, and a dramatic increase in out-of-district special education costs, which have a history of being volatile.

At the Thursday meeting, Diane Johnson, the district's chief financial officer, presented a plan to correct the shortfall in fiscal year 2011.