By Kristen Grieco
Staff writer
Tue, May 13 2008 With only two dozen attendees and just five members of the public standing up to speak, the turnout for last night's School Committee budget hearing was the smallest in recent memory, and in stark contrast to the more than 700 people who showed up last year in the face of a school closure. While comments on specific recommendations for next year's budget were scarce, several speakers and two School Committee members — Chairman Gregory Verga and Vice-Chairwoman Amy Beth Healey — spoke in support of a future Proposition 21/2 override that could help bring back staff and services that have been cut from the budget over the past few years. The school budget this year is $35,071,881. The preliminary budget published by the School Committee for public debate showed a $1.4 million increase over the current year's operating budget. That number is about than $470,000 more than what Mayor Carolyn Kirk said last month that she would recommend the City Council allocate to the schools. "We purposely proposed this budget with an overage to let the public guide us to what the priorities ought to be while we whittle it down to zero," Verga said. Aside from cost increases, the budget includes a facilities manager position, a slight overall increase in personnel and a new educational psychologist to meet the needs of a growing number of students with complex disabilities. The School Committee was shooting for a level-service budget, hoping to avoid the painful cuts they've been forced to make in previous years, but one that would bring very few of the cut positions or services back. According to the budget presentation, a budget that would have fulfilled community expectations and state and federa mandates would have been $40,363,956. In a presentation outlining the background for the budget proposal, Verga said that while revenues from the state have grown nearly $200,000, expenses for things like school choice have leapt up by more than $500,000. Rising costs for special education tuition, $450,000 for special education out-of-district transportation and $1 million in tuition for outbound school choice pupils have also hit the budget hard, Verga said, while the state's funding formula means that Gloucester is unfairly treated in comparison with like cities. The contents of the presentation, which were not new to even the most casual follower of the committee's budget process over the last few years, spurred calls for an override. "I'm afraid I haven't heard a lot of the 'o' word coming from the committee," said Roger Garberg, a member of Gloucester Stand for Children, an advocacy group that lobbies legislators for increased state funding. "The longer we delay, the more students are losing out on this adequate education." "I've been following your process for the budget for the last two or three years, and I want to congratulate you on trying to do something with nothing, which is what you're doing," said Doug Parsons. But of the "level service" budget proposed, Parsons added, "It's not adequate education, and I'm tired of having my three granddaughters getting a sub-adequate education." At the close of public comment, Healey and Verga both said that while it may be a stance that is politically incorrect, they would both support an override in the future. "In reality, we're paying less in taxes and expecting more from our cities and our schools," Healey said. "It's time for us to take control and try to bring more money into the city, even if it comes out of our own pocket." No other School Committee members spoke during or after the hearing. Other speakers pushed for the committee to remain focused on its education mission. Upon hearing that it would cost more than $1 million for the district to bring back enough teachers for "adequate" education and smaller class sizes, Leslie Sarofeen suggested that the committee make that information public. "I really think that's a critical piece of information that the community needs to understand," Sarofeen said. Mark Nestor, president of One Gloucester, an educational advocacy group, urged the committee to push aggressively for the consolidation of the city's and schools' operations, an idea that has been discussed among city officials. "I think the educational committee needs to get out of the business of operations and facilities," Nestor said. "It shouldn't be your job and it shouldn't be your forte." The committee will take the public's comments under advisement during their April 2 Building and Finance Subcommittee meeting, and will vote on a final budget on April 7 at 7 p.m. in the Fred Kyrouz Auditorium at City Hall. That budget will then be relayed to the City Council, who will make a final determination on the allocation of funds towards the school department for the next fiscal year.
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