School leaders outline Rockport override need

Click here to view Dr. Susan King's presentation to school officials

ROCKPORT — The choral, chamber, and orchestra music programs — as well as technology, drama, and art electives — will be among the school offerings to be eliminated next year if Town Meeting fails to approve the district's proposed $536,836 override, school officials said yesterday.

The town guideline budget for the schools for fiscal 2011 ($9,302,228) is some $901,632 short of what school officials say is needed to pay for necessary services ($10,203,860).

"The $536,836 is what we need in order to keep this school district strong and going in a positive direction," said School Committee Chairman Carl Engel. "Without this, it will be a big blow to the schools that is really going to hurt."

Superintendent of Schools Susan King worked for weeks with administrators in both school buildings to decrease the fiscal 2011 budget shortfall of $901,632 to $536,836. The administrators found savings of some $365,000 that would not impact the FY11 educational program, King said in a report to the School Committee outlined Wednesday night.

Those savings included an offset of $120,000 in the form of federal stimulus money for special education, and $150,000 from the schools' reserve fund, leaving a $350,000 balance.

School officials point to an 11.2 percent increase ($350,926) in mandated special education costs as a main factor behind the override requests.

Despite warnings from the Finance Committee against the practice, however, the schools used $547,725 of one-time school revenue last year to balance the FY10 budget — leaving a revenue gap for the next school year. Also, while the proposed new budget does not include cost-of-living salary increases for teachers, the proposal does include $165,000 in "step and track" pay hikes, Engel said.

According to school officials, without an override, there would be a number of position and programming cuts throughout the three schools, including:

Elementary school health teacher position would be eliminated and the health program integrated into the physical education and science courses;

Technology teaching positions and programming in all three schools;

A foreign language position and programming for the seventh and eighth grades;

Middle school drama and art teaching positions and electives;

Middle school reading professional and program;

High school advanced placement biology or human biology course;

Choral, chamber, and orchestra music programming in all three schools as well as instructor Nathan Cohen's position;

A high school special education teacher's position would be cut to part-time.

Engel said that Rockport's school choice money has helped the district absorb special education cost increases in the past, but the district has only had the money to do that is because of its art, music, and technology program offerings.

"Arts, technology, and foreign language extend the quality of the program at your school," Engel said. "There's much more to a good quality school than just the core subjects. It's why (out-of-district) students choice into our school."

The number of out-of-district students attending Rockport schools this year (124) is up 61 percent from the 2000-2001 school year, while the number of Rockporters deciding to attend school elsewhere this year (26) has dropped by 62 percent since 2000.

If the override passes, the average homeowner will see an increase of $147.63 on their tax bill, officials said.

"I think that's a fair amount of money to ask to maintain these programs at the school," Engel said. "We have accreditation coming up; we need to keep the school at a competitive level.

"The town needs to re-assess their health plan and find other ways to save money," Engel added. "As a town, we need to be more disciplined in our priorities and invest in our education."

Longtime resident and retired college professor Joe Muzio agrees.

"We cannot short-change Rockport's present and future students, and those who send their children to Rockport by choice," said Muzio, a Normanstone Drive resident. "The quality of the town's educational system has direct bearing on the overall quality of the entire community, including its real estate values, its spirit, and its positive characteristics and values."

Others, however, find it "unconscionable" that the schools would be asking for such a large increase given the "dire economic" prospects facing communities today.

"As the proud father of two, and grandfather of five, I certainly recognize the value of a good education," Whale Cove Road resident Ted Meeker wrote in a letter to the Times. "But a 7 percent budget increase just to maintain a level of funding, presumably because of contractual and step raises, is obscene when so many in industry and service positions have lost their jobs or are faced with wage freezes or reductions."

School officials presented their final budget request to the Finance Committee last night and are scheduled to appear before the Board of Selectmen on March 23.

An override of tax-limiting Proposition 2 1/2 would also have to be approved at the ballot box on May 4. Annual Town Meeting is Saturday, April 3 in the high school gymnasium.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3451 or jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.

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