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Lanesborough School Approves $182K Budget Cut
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
05:52AM / Sunday, March 29, 2015
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Many residents voiced the desire to cut more from the school budget.

The School Committee approved a $182,823 cut to the school budget on Thursday.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A $123,000 cut to the elementary school budget wasn't enough for several townspeople at Thursday's public hearing, which led the School Committee to cut an additional $60,000.
 
The School Committee approved by a 2-1 vote Thursday an appropriated school budget of $2,399,709, which is $182,823 less than this year. The vote was taken after the public hearing on a budget $60,000 higher than what was ultimately approved.
 
"We certainly started with very sharp pencils and those pencils took almost $123,000 out of a small elementary school budget. In 45 years in this business, I have never seen that. There are increases every year," said Interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy.
 
"It just so happens this year that it made it possible for us to make a dramatic reductions."
 
The largest area of reductions came from the elimination of about seven positions in the Special Education Department and the loss of a teacher, which accounted for nearly $180,000 in savings.
 
According to Noseworthy, contractual obligations accounted for $84,358 from the start of the process for salary increases, reduction in grants, utility increases and bus contracts. However, with the enrollment dropped, the administration was able to make the staff reductions to drop the budget.
 
"There were adjustments that needed to be made in the budget and we made it," Noseworthy said, confident that the staffing levels will still provide the education the students need.
 
Noseworthy, in working with various school officials, crafted and presented an appropriated budget proposal of $2,459,709, which was $122,823 or 4.76 percent less than this year. The total budget was $2,690,470, which included  non-appropriated revenue streams.
 
However, Town Administrator Paul Sieloff asked the School Committee to try and find an additional $53,073 to help balance the town's budget. The town's preliminary budget penciled in a $160,000 decrease for the school and an increase for Mount Greylock Middle and High School of $91,487.
 
The same night Sieloff presented the town's budget, Mount Greylock voted a budget $15,896 more than he expected. And then the Elementary School Budget was $37,177 more than he expected. Thus, Sieloff was looking to find $53,073 to cover both differences.
 
"I feel like if you look back and sharpen your pencils, you might be able to find out where an additional $75,000 is," Sieloff said, using ballpark figures to explain his situation to the School Committee.
 
Sieloff said the biggest impact was the increase of more than $100,000 for Mount Greylock and the town was working on finding a way to avoid going for a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote.
 
Through a number of monies being moved around and a reduction in the school's contingency account, school officials closed some but not all of that gap. The additional $60,000 cut from the school budget after the hearing came under the understanding that the town would create a $25,000 reserve specifically for the school. 
 
Now, the town administrator has a $18,073 gap to close to balance the budget.
 
"Essentially at this point, the budget is between $15,000 and $20,000 out of balance," Sieloff said on Friday. "I am assuming all of us [Finance Committee, Board of Selectmen, and himself] working together will be able to close the gap."
 
Sieloff said he was "grateful for the School Committee's efforts" and that "they did a very good job." Within a month, Sieloff hopes to be able to absorb the difference needed to balance the budget.
 
The additional $60,000 being remove from the budget centered on school choice funds. The School Committee opened up 10 spots for school choice and business manager Lynn Bassett assumed six would be filled, penning in a total estimated revenues of $130,000 for school choice, $30,000 more than the current choice enrollment. That additional revenue, however, isn't guaranteed.
 
"I am still not comfortable giving away money we don't know what we have," said Chairwoman Regina DiLego.
 
Principal Ellen Boshe said typically half of the open school choice spots are filled and so far she has received five inquiries. However, there is a chance none of the spots are filled and the revenue never comes in.
 
"We may get no school choice children. I worry about counting on money because we don't know if it is going to be there," Boshe said.
 
That estimated revenue created an end of the year balance of $81,935, which school officials said would come into play should the school need an out-of-district placement for special education, which could come at a cost of more than $40,000.
 
"There is no reserves in this town. If a special education student comes to town, I need to play 'Lets Make a Deal' with the town," said Director of Pupil Services Kimberly Grady. "You are closing a door on families and children with no reserve funds. There is nothing in circuit breaker funds and there haven't been for years."
 
The town is obligated to provide the special education services needed and Grady felt the school should have reserves for that type of instance.
Town Administrator Paul Sieloff asked the School Committee to cut more to help balance the town's budget. 

School Committee member Robert Barton, however, suggested to use some of that projected reserves to boost the $40,000 contingency account in the school budget to $60,000 and cut the rest.

The town administrator also agreed to set aside a $25,000 reserve in his budget specifically for the school, giving the school the largest overall reserve it has ever had.

Should the need arise, the school can go to the town and request that $25,000 and the $60,000 is within the school official's control.

"I think the expense budget is well done and tight. But, I also think we have more than we need in the school choice budget," Barton said.
 
The town's $25,000 reserve came as one suggestion from Sieloff to save funds. The School Committee's budget had a $40,000 reserve; Sieloff suggested eliminating and creating the $25,000 account, for a $15,000 reduction.
 
DiLego opposed that move because it put the Finance Committee and not the School Committee in charge of the funds.
 
"I would really much rather keep the reserve fund in our own hands," she said.
 
However, Barton's motion to cut an additional $60,000 by eliminating the school choice reserves and boosting the school contingency to $60,000 was approved with Jim Moriarity voting in favor as well. Both members who voted for the cut have previously announced they will not be running for School Committee again.
 
"It assumes that we create a $60,000 contingency line in the budget," Barton said, saying in essence the school would have $85,000 in reserves. "In order for us to have that big of a reduction, we would expect the Finance Committee would stand behind with us a $25,000 reserve."
 
Noseworthy opposed the cuts, saying his staff worked hard to get that budget to where it was and further cuts hurt the school's academic performance.
 
"We cannot decimate this little elementary school ... We did an extremely good job in trying to give you a responsible budget," Noseworthy said. "We got that budget down to less than one percent. That is a huge undertaking."
 
Resident Jennifer DeChaine voiced the same sentiment.
 
"I think you guys did a wonderful job this year in cutting the budget," she said. "I think people should be happy you cut it period." 
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