Schools
Stoneham Middle School Plan, Budget the Focus of School Committee
The Stoneham School Committee addressed both topics during their Thursday night session at the high school.
The School Committee was pleased to announce that on election day Tuesday, voters approved moving forward with the estimated $40 million Stoneham . The project narrowly passed, 2009-1688, according to the
The School Committee is encouraging the public to attend their Monday night meetings concerning the project to get more input from residents interested, because as committee member Jeanne Craigie put it, “The real work begins now.”
The project will be discussed at the School Building Committee's session at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Library.
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No Tri-Board Meeting, Informal Budget Talk Commences
After a Tri-Board meeting between the School Committee, Finance and Advisory Board and School Building Committee was postponed, the School Committee discussed the proposed fiscal year 2013 school budget.
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said a $116,000 reduction to the budget may be necessary after reviewing the fiscal year 2013 budget drafted by the Gov. Deval Patrick's Office. Olson said he was concerned about an increase to unemployment benefits in the budget, but added that these costs could be offset by potential retirements.
Olson tossed out the idea of balancing this loss with new hirings in the technology department and other areas to the tune of $100,000. Olson also mentioned examining the idea of shuffling around several teaching positions, specifically those in the foreign languages department.
Meanwhile, boosts in the budget to all special education and English language learners tutors and teachers will remain untouched, according to school officials.
Para-professional positions as well as hiring other part-time teaching staff were some of the ideas discussed by the committee to avoiding losing any full-time teachers due to the potential cuts.
Explaining that the budget is still open for debate, but remains true to its original inception, Olson wrapped up the informal discussion by saying, “We have to recognize and make some changes, but at the same time, reflect the budget we have in place now.”
Budget Hearing Planned
Discussions ended with the announcement of an April 26 public hearing to adopt the fiscal year 2013 budget at 7:30 p.m. at the high school library.
