ANDOVER — Increased numbers of students in elementary school classrooms, elimination of foreign language instruction at the middle schools, and a decrease in the length of classes at the high school — these are among the budget decisions the School Committee faces for the coming school year.
Last month, School Superintendent Claudia Bach proposed a preliminary school budget of about $63.7 million for the 2010-2011 school year, which represents about a 6.7 percent increase over this year's $59.7 million spending plan.
However, Town Manager Reginald "Buzz" Stapczynski has proposed about $61 million, a 2.2 percent increase, for the schools in his recommended fiscal 2011 town budget.
This amounts to a $2.6 million gap — which may grow even larger in the coming months if further cuts are made in state aid, according to Stapczynski.
"This is going to be a very tough budget season," said Bach. "We're all going to have to take a hit."
Tomorrow, the School Committee will hold a required annual public hearing during its meeting at 7 p.m. at the School Administration Building to allow residents to share their concerns about next year's school budget. The committee has not made any final decisions about cuts.
Bach said her $63.7 million budget proposal is needed to maintain the district's current level of services. Last year, the school district made cuts to several programs for students and eliminated more than 35 positions, Bach said.
While salaries and benefits are the primary drivers of the school budget, increasing special education costs, decreasing state aid and cuts in other funding are factors that impact the increase needed in fiscal 2011. To reduce $2.6 million from her proposed budget, major changes will have to be made at each school level beyond the cuts made last year, Bach said.
These changes include, bringing class sizes up to the maximum within the School Committee policy at the elementary schools, eliminating one or two departments at the middle schools, and changing the current schedule at the high school with shorter classroom time.
"These are huge changes, and the parents won't be happy out them," Bach said, adding all three of these changes still won't be enough to fill the deficit. "The committee has a big dilemma, and they will have to work with the town and tell them we can't sustain cuts of this magnitude without harming our programs."
Stapczynski said the superintendent's budget proposal is just a starting point.
"Hopefully, we will be able to come to a consensus on a budget for the schools within available resources," he said. "I am confident the School Committee will work on their budget knowing the pressures the town faces."
School Committee chairwoman Deb Silberstein said she can't justify any of the major proposed cuts recommended by the administration because they are not consistent with the core values of the district.
"We are going to have to make some difficult decisions," said Silberstein. "These types of reductions would alter the quality of education offered in Andover ... and it would be very difficult to bring it back up."
Bach echoed Silberstein, saying many economists believe fiscal 2011 will be the most difficult year financially, but will be followed by an upswing in the economy. She said if these major cuts were made it will be tough to rebuild in the future.
The budget outlines several ways the district administration will continue to try to cut the budget, including negotiating with the teachers union for contract changes. Bach encouraged the School Committee to make major cuts if needed for next year instead of continuing to take the district down the path of "death by a thousand cuts."
"All administrators believe that considerable damage has been done to this very good school system by nipping away at programs and services year after year," Bach said in her budget statement.
Silberstein said it is unlikely the committee will vote on a final spending number during the meeting tomorrow. Once the School Committee arrives at the final number, it will be brought to the floor of the annual Town Meeting for approval. That meeting will be April 28 at Andover High School.
Shaping the 2010-2011 school budget will be Bach's last as the chief executive of Andover schools. Earlier this month the committee selected Marinel McGrath, the current Hamilton-Wenham superintendent, to succeed Bach when she steps down at the end of the school year.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
