Barnstable School District Has A 'No Drama Budget'

Barntable's "no drama budget" may have a little drama.

In the special meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the budget, the committee thanked Superintendent Patricia Grenier and Barnstable's Assistant Treasurer Gareth Markwell, whom reworked the budget and represented it after it suggested changes.

Barnstable School District is in a situation where cutting the budget is not about trimming fat, but choosing the less of two evils when shedding costs.For example, the school committee was upset to see four kindergarten assistant positions at Hyannis West Elementary School proposed for the chopping block.

This is "sending our community a clear message - that's our fluff," said school committee member Francis McDonald.

The total request is $61,357,403, down from the original request of $61, 549,995. The difference was made up by making the following adjustments:

1. Removing ARRA funded positions
   • four kindergartens teacher assistants
   • one adjustment counselor at Barnstable Intermediate School
   • one special education team facilitator at the elementary level
2. Cutting one elementary school teacher based on enrollment
3. Catching a mistake in a redundancy of a high school teacher being counted twice
4. Effectuating retirement savings
5. Making adjustments to the utility costs

At the end of the presentation, Committee member Tom McDonald said, "I think the numbers are solid, I think you [Grenier] and the team did a great job."

Right now, the budget has conservative thinking with state funding at a 10 percent reduction from last year - something Grenier does not believe will happen. And there are other potential monies the school may receive, but it is not set in stone yet. The first positions they would reinstate would be the four kindergarten TAs at Hy-West.

Grenier and Markwell were able to tweak the numbers to the committee's liking and the vote, at the earliest, will be on March, 8. 

When describing the budget, Grenier said we "come in a very stable conservative viewpoint." 

In the no drama mentality, Grenier said and wanted to make clear is that Barnstable is OK and will be OK through FY'13 given its accounts and scheduled funding.

The committee and Grenier remarked that because of the trend of smaller class sizes, any further cuts during the next few years may actually not be painful because the student body is naturally shrinking.

On the other hand, the size of the Hyannis West Elementary School enrollment, which was described as a roller coaster, was one thing that made the committee and Grenier a little nervous in regard to making sure those students will be taken care of.

To combat kindergarten's without preschool education, Grenier said she is working on a "kindergarden academy" type of summer program.

At the end of the meeting project forward about the budget, Grenier admitted the budget is "a tad risky, but good balance."