6 Fast Facts from Last Night's School Committee Meeting

The Westborough School Committee held a meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Here are 6 Fast Facts from the proceedings.  

1. Dan Hendricks, Director of Business Administration, stated the snow removal from all school roofs had been completed and that none of the schools sustained any major damage. The total cost of this was around $18,000. He added that the town may recoup some of this money from the state.

2. The deadline for Spring sports sign-up is March 2, and any questions can be directed to the central office at 508-836-7700.

3. School Committee Chair Ilyse Levine-Kanji stated that there was no misunderstanding between the School Committee and Town Manager Jim Malloy. She stressed that the two offices will continue to work together on the budget. School committee member Steve Doret publicly expressed concern when the preliminary budget numbers were released at the Feb. 8 Board of Selectmen meeting. . 

4. The school committee voted unanimously to send a group of students on a field trip to NYC. This group of 14 students participate in a United Nations type of competition. At the event, the students write position papers on health, defense and a number of other issues. They also must negotiate their positions with representatives from other schools in order to get their position papers approved. The international competition will be held in NYC and the students will get to witness the opening and closing ceremonies at the UN.

5. The Preliminary FY 2012 Budget Summary was presented by Dan Hendricks, Director of Business Administration. Highlights include:

• The school department's preliminary FY 2012 budget is $39,982,335, an increase of $700,000 (1.78%) over the current FY 2011 budget. Of the $39,982,335, the salary line item is $31,711,458, an increase of $565,000 (1.72 %) over the total of the line item in FY 2011.
• The contracts line item increased by $194,409, from $4,787,976 in FY 2011 to $4,982,385 for FY 2012 for an increase of 4.06%.
• The Supplies line item went up $20,710 (1.42%), from $1,462,172 in FY 2011 to $1,482,882 in FY 2012.
• The school district spending on software will go from $170,837 in FY 2011 to $162,300 for FY 2012, a decrease of $8,537 (5.10%). Textbooks costs will decrease more than $17,000, from $200,189 in fiscal year FY 2011 to $183,025 in FY 2012 (8.5%). Utilities use will drop around $25,000 from a total of $1,485,808 in this current year to $1,460,805 in FY 2012, a decrease of 1.68%.

6. Enrollment at the schools in the district will remain in the area of 3600 students. The enrollment estimate is for the district to be down by 63 students - mainly at the middle school level - for the FY2012. However it was pointed out by School Committee member Karen Henderson that these numbers had been reported similarly before and the actual numbers were higher.