Schools to See 6.83 Percent Increase: News From the Superintendent

SHREWSBURY, MA --

Submitted by Joe Sawyer, superintendent of schools

On Wednesday night, three important documents were presented to the School Committee for their review:

• the report of the Calendar Committee and a recommended calendar for the 2016-2017 school year,
• The recommendations for changes to the 2016-2017 Shrewsbury High School Program of Studiesand the draft of the full document, and
• The initial recommendation for the Fiscal Year 2017 School Department Budget.

The School Committee is scheduled to vote on the calendar and the SHS Program of Studies at their next meeting on Feb. 3, and are welcoming feedback in advance of those votes. You may email the School Committee collectively at schoolcommittee@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us.

The Fiscal Year 2017 budget plan reflects the School Committee’s budget priorities and guidelines that they issued this past October.

This budget plan would accomplish the following:

1. Sustain the current levels of personnel and programming
2. Meet mandates in cost-effective ways
3. Advance School Committee strategic priorities

The total of increased costs required to sustain personnel and programming and meet mandates, including rising out-of-district special education costs, is $3,990,779, which would represent a 6.83 percent increase over the current year’s budget. You can find additional information in the budget presentation slides or the full budget book.

I am grateful for the excellent work that Patrick Collins, our Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, and his team put into this document, which contains both summary data and a great deal of detailed information.

Last night, I shared with the School Committee that, based upon the constraints placed upon local funding, and the reality that we are unlikely to get anything other than minimal additional funding from the state, I do not believe that there will be sufficient revenue to fund this budget plan. We will not know the extent of what this budget gap will be until the Governor and the Town Manager file their respective budgets later this month. I believe it will be a difficult budget cycle, due to the reality that our projected costs will exceed the funding available.

As always, I will keep you informed as the process unfolds and we get more of a sense of the magnitude of the situation. In the meantime, I do encourage you to review the materials we have posted online so that you have an enhanced understanding of our budget.

Feel free to contact Patrick Collins atpccollins@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us or me with any questions you may have regarding the budget materials, or to contact the School Committee at schoolcommittee@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us with any comments you wish to convey to them.

Additionally, a public hearing on the School Department budget will be held sometime during the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.