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Date: 12/26/2023
LUDLOW — The Board of Selectmen met with the School Committee to go over the fiscal year 2025 budget at its Dec. 19 meeting.
With the school budget projected to take up approximately 47% of the overall town budget, the Board of Selectmen and School Committee decided last year that quarterly meetings would be necessary to keep everyone on the same page.
Last fiscal year, a 9.1% increase was needed to reach level service, but the schools were granted a 4.3% increase which cut approximately $1.5 million for level service and increased class sizes and fees while also reduced positions.
Tiano reported that in FY24, the loss in money caused 22 full-time employees to be reduced.
The year before the schools had to reduce 14 full-time employees but used one-time Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funds to add nine positions to meet English language learning and special education requirements.
With the ESSER money running out, Tiano said that Ludlow Public Schools would need approximately $2.5 million to provide the same services in FY25.
“This is the last year removing the ESSER one-time funds from our operating budget so we will start minus $400,000 next year in terms of when you take away that money that is baked into our budget.”
He added that the loss of ESSER funds reduces $400,000 out of the budget while other contractual obligations are also set to increase in FY25.
Salaries are expected to increase by $1.7 million, transportation by $224,000 and out of school tuition by $192,000.
Tiano said, “Going forward looking at our estimated fixed costs. As teachers move through the salary scale, if they are a second year teacher, they can go to a third year degree and we have columns for master degrees. Transportation includes not only our big yellow buses that you see taking the kids to and from school, this is also special education, our homeless transportation and vocational.”
Town Administrator Marc Strange put together a level one budget highlight sheet, which is the total amount of funding requested by all departments for FY25.
“School budget for 2024 was $35,949,944 which was about 46% of the total town budget. For fiscal ’25, we are looking at $37,028,442 that represents a 3% increase. Right now, that is 45% percent of our town budget but that will likely increase once we decrease the total budget,” Strange said.
On average over the last five years, the schools have seen a 2.88% increase to their budget.
Strange added that the town will have to reduce the budget because based on all the request from each department, the town would be $2.6 million over capacity.
“That includes the towns new positions and new classifications. We are going to make some decisions on the requests,” Strange said.
The town will start working on a level two budget which includes line item adjustments, increases or decreases, and that is the budget that goes to the Finance Committee, who will conduct its own review, meet with departments as necessary and then suggest their own changes to the Level 2 budget.
The budget does not need to be presented to residents until May Town Meeting so Strange added that there is time to receive more official numbers and figure out solutions.
Based on Tiano’s budget timeline, he said he would like a draft of the budget presented to the School Committee and posted online by Jan. 9, 2024, a presentation on Jan. 23, 2024, and a public hearing on Feb. 13, 2024.