In case you missed last night's Committee meeting, here are some of the highlights:
1. Shrewsbury High School Principal Brian Reagan and Heather Thompson, High School foreign language teacher, proposed a school trip for high school Latin students to visit Athens and Rome in April 2012. A similar trip occurred in June 2010, Thompson said.
School Committee member Dr. Dale Magee, expressed concern over the cost of the elective trip, $3,400 dollars. “I can see the benefit of it, but I am very concerned that we are sorting our students by socio-economic status,” which is a problem for public schools, Magee said. School Committee member Steve Levine agreed with the concern. Dr. Joseph Sawyer, superintendent of schools, and Thompson said students can participate in fundraising activities and can pay incrementally, over time, as ways to help defray costs, though they understood the concerns raised.
Find out what's happening in Shrewsburyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The proposal was voted upon and accepted by the School Committee, with one dissenting vote from Magee.
2. Parker Road Preschool Director Lisa Robinson and Beal Early Childhood Center Principal Alice Brennan each presented their individual annual School Improvement Plans (SIP). Parker Road’s presentation included information about their focus on transitions, from Early Intervention and then to kindergarten. Beal’s presentation included details about the implementation of Response To Intervention (RTI) measures, maintaining equity between full-day and half-day Kindergarten classrooms and focus on respectful behavior/conflict management in the classrooms.
Find out what's happening in Shrewsburyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Both SIPs were voted on and accepted unanimously.
3. The School Committee heard the second reading of the Sponsorship and Advertising policy draft, which incorporated some recommended changes since the first reading. “The basic principles here are: there’s a lot of discretion on the part of the superintendent,” Magee said, “that we are protecting the students and being very cautious about compromising the values of this system and that’s our first priority and that stays our first priority.”
The policy was voted on and accepted unanimously.
4. Sawyer presented the school department’s budget recommendation for FY 2012. Some numbers had changed since the last budget development report, something that is likely to continue, he said. “Costs are evolving,” said Sawyer, as estimates, projections and circumstances change.
Sawyer said the school department is recommending a budget of $48,545,211 for FY 2012, a 2.98 percent increase over the FY 2011 budget.
In February, the school department identified a 3.9 percent gap between level funding from FY 2011 and what was projected for FY 2012.
Sawyer said prior school budgets included increases of 6 – 7 percent, before the economic downturn. In 2010, the appropriated school budget was decreased by roughly 2.75 percent, though federal stimulus funds effectively resulted in level funding for that year. The 2011 budget was about a 5.69 percent increase from the previous year and the current budget recommendation from the school department is a 2.98 percent increase.
The technology category, now budgeted for $400,000, has one of the largest increases. As reported previously, the district is currently replacing computers about once every 15 years, and roughly 2/3, or 66 percent of district hardware is unable to run on the current operating systems, Sawyer said.
The FY 2012 budget recommendation report is available on the school district website.
The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, at 8 p.m. at the town hall.
