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Schools

VIDEO: Seekonk School Committee Struggles With Budget Cuts

The school committee is challenged with cutting $810,000 from the current budget - a tough task considering 77 percent of the budget pays for staff salaries.

In his first move as a Seekonk School Committee member, John Bilodeau asked the board to freeze any money in the current year’s budget not already committed to salaries or purchase orders. According to Bilodeau, he wants to ensure that any excess funds not be spent without board approval.

Other members wanted to potentially purchase necessities now to avoid crimps in next year's budget.

“If the surplus is $150,000 and we are anticipating a shortfall next year, maybe we should use that money to buy things that may be cut,” said Dave Abbott, who was elected as the committee's vice chairman on Wednesday.

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Mitchell Vieira, the new committee chairman, noted that any figures being discussed are still “very fluid” because the committee is still working on the budget. He also reminded members financial figures have not been released from the state, further compounding the trouble with determining an effective and realistic budget for fiscal year 2012.

“My idea is that you build a budget for what you need, not based around a given number,” said Bilodeau.

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Superintendent Madeline Meyer told the board that the budget they worked through reflected the number given to the district by the town, which is $17,000 more than last year; the district is being told they need to cut $810,000 from the current budget.

“At a certain point we need to decide what high quality education is.  We can’t allow fiscal management to overshadow education,” said David Quinn, a board member and newly elected secretary.

School districts across the country are struggling with budget cuts; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding is coming to an end. Close to $100 billion of the nearly $800 billion in ARRA funds was allocated to retain teachers and help improve and stabilize schools across the nation. Those dollars run out in July, leaving many schools left without supplemental funding.

According to the superintendent, over three-fourths of the schools' budget funds salaries.

“We have had many meetings on how to keep this issue away from children, but 77 percent of the budget is salaries,” said Meyer.

If the committee decides to lay off staff, the district is required to notify personnel about changes in positions by April 15. This deadline causes an increased pressure on the board to determine a new budget - but without finite numbers from the state, it's a tough task for committee members.

“The numbers from the state could be worse than expected,” said Meyer.

Committee members asked Seekonk Educators Association (SEA) President, Simone Feaster-Armour, if they could move the April 15 notification deadline to April 30.

Feaster-Armour noted that she could not make that decision without consulting with the SEA attorney, since this is a contractual issue.

Abbott told the board that he spent hours going over the budget, trying to make savings without impacting the students. He said he had managed to find $580,000 worth of cuts, without laying off teachers, by reducing support staff and overtime.

Superintendent Meyer said Abbott may have thought he found cuts that had already been made.

“We wanted to do a level service budget. This budget has the removal of all technology already taken out of it,” said Meyer.

School committee members will hold a budget workshop next week. Following the workshop, the board intends to meet with Seekonk Board of Selectmen members to talk about the budget.

“That is something that should have been done a long time ago,” said Selectman Bob McClintock. “It is a step in the right direction to get us together. There has to be cooperation between the boards, not just for the schools, but for the whole town.”

“We have to sit down together and work this out,” said Selectman Bill Rice.

The budget workshop will be held on April 13 at 7:30 p.m., tentatively at the Seekonk High School.

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