School Administrators Questioned at Budget Meeting

School administrators came under fire Tuesday during the public comments portion of the district's budget subcommittee meeting.

Parents wanted to know why they weren't notified sooner that the district was headed toward a large deficit in fiscal year 2010 and questioned how the district fell so far behind. One father even called for the administrators' jobs to be reevaluated by the School Committee.

"I believe the full [School Committee] needs to assess if this is the management we want moving forward," said Len Kardon, one of about 20 parents attendance.

Some parents were there to urge committee members to reconsider adding a fourth kindergarten teacher at Brackett Elementary School in order to reduce class sizes.

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 recovered in fiscal year 2011, which began July 1, and a dramatic increase in out-of-district special education costs, which have a history of being volatile.

The budget subcommittee was tasked with reviewing fiscal year 2010 with an outside auditor and bringing back findings to the committee's November 9 meeting.

On Tuesday, Diane Johnson, the district's chief financial officer, presented the fiscal year 2011 budget in a new format. Johnson, who began with the district after the fiscal year 2010 budget had already been implemented, said the new format will allow for easier tracking throughout the year, as it documents grant and other out-of-district funding, which were the main contributors to the current shortfall.

Committee member Jeff Thielman supported the new look budget, which is expected to be posted on the district's website today.

"This is a big improvement over what we've had in the past," he said. "We've never had this level of detail."

At the meeting, Kardon also questioned why administrators never apologized or expressed regret for the current situation. Later in the meeting, Superintendent Kathleen Bodie did apologize for the late notice.

"I apologize, publicly, that we did not alert people that this was going to be the case," she said.

Committee members also discussed possible auditors, including Powers & Sullivan, a firm used by the town, and the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials, an organization suggested by Johnson. The subcommittee scheduled a meeting for 7 p.m. on Monday, September 13, to decide on an auditor before the full committee meeting the following day.

The full committee needs to approve the auditor before the process can begin.

Also, last week, Robert Bliss, a spokesman for the state Department of Revenue, said the state has no plans to intervene in Arlington.

"It's a fairly routine situation," said Bliss, referring to the budget deficit.