Budget Approval

It is impressive the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the board in reviewing the budget and looking for savings wherever possible, even after going over this a bunch of times before. The overall picture is very good for the taxpayers, with a net drop in spending, even though the number of students is up slightly and there are the regular jump in staff salaries (but a smaller than usual less than 2% increase in health insurance rates!). The biggest savings are in special education, partly the cost of one out of district placement that is moving up to an expense for the high school, and then a drop in students needing services. Whether this is a trend or a result of better work or just the luck of the draw, it is saving about $200,000. Some other small cuts here and there offered more savings, which was then offset by increases in salaries, bus sinking fund (to reflect the increased costs of new buses), energy costs, and a required upgrade to the water systems at both schools. The biggest controversies (or potential ones at least) revolve around whether to budget for continuing the same winter sports program and whether to add funding for foreign language instruction. Winter sports is in the budget still, although there is some sentiment that it is a costly program, the relationship with Ascutney unreliable, and this is a big headache for administration and teachers that might not have all that much educational payback. The overall cost for the program is over $15,000 for the ski program and then another $2000+ for transport. At least some feel that there could be a high quality winter sports program done in other ways for considerably less money and significantly less hassle for all involved. At the same time, it is clear that some parents feel strongly about the value of the downhil ski program. The sense of the board was that we hope to get broad input from the community about this expense and learn what direction the whole community would like to see this take. Foreign language isn't in the budget but is in the school's 5 year plan. The board felt without a long range plan beyond a one year expense, we didn't want to allocate money at this time. Again, the hope is to get a much more clear picture of what this program would look like over time (for all grades, what level of immersion, what language, progression through the grades, etc.) before we began spending for this. While it would be great to have young children learning foreign language (when they are most able to assimilate this), if not done well, I think this can be just a sinkhole of costs for a little diversion from other academic time. It all depends on how it is done. We hope to look into this before next year's budget. Once again, I am impressed by the business manager's command of the numbers (to the penny off the top of her head) and the seriousness of all in being responsible to the taxpayers and the kids. It feels like y'all are well represented.