Being Efficient Has Its Reward for Belmont Schools

It was like old times at Tuesday's on June 19 as two former officials came to celebrate the Belmont School Districts' being honored for being actively prudent with its money.

Dr. Gerry Missal, Belmont School's past director of finance, and former Belmont School Superintendent Dr. Peter Holland were on hand to accept an award from a group of school business officials for efficiently using school funds to provide money to students.

The second Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials' Donald D. Johnson Cost Efficiency Award was presented to the Belmont district for implementing programs that began when Missal was the director that "increase efficiency in order to maximze the availability of resources for educational priorities" that can be replicated in other districts.

"We were not just asking for bigger budgets but bringing more efficiencies to those budgets" and reallocating the savings to our students, said Missal.

The efforts by the district – "The Belmont Experience" – included controlling medical insurance rates for school and town employees, establishing an energy savings project known as the Energy Savings Company back in 2006-7, and collaborating with six districts in controlling special education transportation.

And to go with the award was $2,500 from ING Financial presented to School Chairwoman Laurie Graham that will go into the school's general High School Senior scholarship fund.