Budget is the Best that Watertown School Officials have Seen in Years

Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald got good news from the School Committee’s Budget and Finance Subcommittee Monday night – a recommended 3.5 percent increase in next year’s budget.

The subcommittee unanimously voted to send a budget with $35.3 million from the town that would provide level services (the same programs and services next year as the previous year) for the School Committee to consider at its meeting Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Watertown High School.

“A 3.5 percent increase is really good,” Fitzgerald said. “Of course I wish it could be more.”

School officials have not been in the position to add positions for a few years.

“We are in a better position than we were last year at this time,” said School Committee member David Leon. “We are getting a budget number without a substantial cut in staff.”

The budget is in better shape even than two years ago, added School Committee Vice Chairman John Portz said.

The budget includes money for a couple new elementary school teacher positions and two more at the high school, to account for growing enrollment in town schools. It does not, however, include a music teacher for the secondary schools. 

The budget also includes an additional $211,000 for instructional aides. Most of the money will go to aides who work one-on-one with children in the district’s autism program, Fitzgerald said.

Restoring cuts made to the Watertown Schools in recent years is important, said School Committee member Michael Shepard.

“The School Department and other town departments have had smaller budgets the last few years. We should invest to bring the district back to that level, and upgrade,” Shepard said. “You can’t ask for the moon and stars right away, but 3.5 percent would get us to a workable level service budget.”

The 3.5 percent increase includes money to cover , which will be voted on by the teachers union today, April 10.

Whether the budget will become a reality is still up in the air. The budget must still be approved by the full School Committee, which meets Wednesday, and then by the Town Council, which will hold budget hearings in May.

In the fall, they would receive a 2.5 percent increase over last year. That would be about $350,000 less than the 3.5 percent recommendation by the Budget and Finance Subcommittee.