School Board Presented with $60 Million Budget

The Salem School Board got their first look at the proposed $60 million 2012-2013 school year executive budget Saturday morning, one that includes both cuts and additions to personnel.

The overall budget presented by SAU 57 Superintendent Michael Delahanty was for $60,004,060, up $940,871 (or 1.6 percent) from the present year budget of $59,063,198.

Many increases in the budget came from areas "out of our control," according to Delahanty, for health insurance, retirement, special education tuition and heating oil. Increases in these areas totaled $1,528,907.

Other areas in the budget were cut to offset the increases, including a drop in equipment funding from $818,598 to $482,492 among other reductions.

The proposed budget includes new added positions including a school district finance director, funding for three School Resource Officers at a cost of $232,500, three reading assistants and an IT technician.

Delahanty proposed some personnel changes, including reducing the elementary school staff by one teacher and the high school staff by one-and-a-quarter international language teachers, one art teacher and one business teacher.

For the 2011-2012 school year, Delahanty said some positions are funded by an Ed Jobs Grant and that money is expected to go away in 2012-2013. Jobs currently funded by those grants that are proposed to be kept in the budget include an English teacher, a guidance counselor and a high school special education teacher.

Delahanty said Salem has remained cost-effective in terms of what it spends per student. For 2009-2010, Salem's cost-per-pupil was $9,944 with the state average at $11,746.

The school budget will be further discussed at the Nov. 8 School Board meeting. The Salem Budget Committee will review the budget later this year. The school deliberative session is set for Feb. 9, 2012, with town meeting to follow in March.