The Gloucester Public Schools are trying to reclaim some of the education spending lost during the last recession and have asked for a $1.05 million — or 2.9 percent — budget increase for the next academic year.
The $36.8 million budget request would bolster local vocational programs and add extra staff at Veterans' and Beeman elementary schools, while absorbing the annual rise in employee health care costs. It would also call for hiring a librarian to serve O'Maley Middle School and the five elementary schools.
Approved by the School Committee last week, the preliminary school request kicks off the municipal budget season and contains numerous variables.
The spending requests, however, go beyond the $474,000 increase Mayor Carolyn Kirk has said schools can "take to the bank" in her fiscal 2011 budget proposal this spring, and the $663,900 she has indicated may be available.
The City Council has the final say on the budget, and last year restored $200,000 to the schools to soften the blow of what was going to be a $500,000 recession-year school budget cut from 2009.
The budget does not include any appropriation for salary increases beyond the "step and track" seniority increases already due teachers under their contract. The School Committee has dangled the possibility of salary increases, if health insurance costs can be brought down.
To raise the spending while paying for an estimated 13 percent increase in employee health insurance premiums, the budget taps $716,000 in federal stimulus aid and extracts $386,853 from balances in district revolving accounts, such as building rental, rink revenue and preschool.
In notes accompanying the budget request, Superintendent Christopher Farmer acknowledged that using these one-time revenues is "problematic," and could result in a significant hole in the fiscal 2012 budget.
The discretionary spending increases in the budget focus on areas the schools have as their biggest challenges.
Veterans' Elementary School and Beeman Elementary School have lagged behind the other neighborhood schools on standardized test scores.
Under the budget request, Veterans' and Beeman would each get a new reading specialist, while the two schools would share a new teacher for students for whom English is a second language. The district would also hire a school counselor for Veterans'.
On the district-wide level, the budget asks for an additional $13,000 for "curriculum equipment and materials" and $6,000 for library books.
The Gloucester High School vocational programs have been under the spotlight since the city started debating whether to commit to a new regional vocational school.
The schools have been trying to hire a vice-principal in charge of the vocational program for years, but the item — now budgeted at $78,000 — has never made it through the budget process.
If it adds one additional vocational program, the district would be required by the state to have a dedicated administrator to run it. The School Committee has discussed adding several new vocational programs to help the high school retain students tempted by the new regional school.
The 2011 budget request also adds $40,000 to buy new equipment for the vocational programs, many of which are using vintage machines.
The School Committee has scheduled a full airing of the budget request at a public hearing March 17. After the public hearing, the School Committee will vote on its final budget request in April.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
Nordic Festival Puts North Korea in Spotlight
'Rumor Has It' Adele's Rolling in the Grammys
Grohl, Grammy Nominees Cut Up on the Red Carpet
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting
Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote
Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport
Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China
Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
