Cuts required to meet level funded school budget

Date: 3/22/2011

March 23, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

AGAWAM — At the March 14 public budget workshop, Superintendent Dr. Mary A. Czajkowski presented an amended Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) proposal that whittled down the projected School Department deficit to a little over $185,000.

That proposal included significant staff cuts and fee increases for the coming school year in an attempt to approach a level-funding figure of $33,909,498.

In a written preface to the presentation, Czajkowski explained the district had reached a "funding cliff" this budget cycle, losing approximately $1 million in federal grants that had previously allowed the department to "maintain the quality programs and services" students and parents expect from their schools. The department does have $360,944 in Ed Jobs grant funding carried over from FY11 to help offset some of the loss.

The projected cost to maintain the current level of programs for FY12 is $35,795,911.

"With a level service budget you're already going to have a deficit because of contract obligations, cost of paper and supplies, etc." Patricia Cavanaugh, director of Finance and Human Resources for the Agawam Public Schools, said.

The proposed cuts represent an effort to eliminate the nearly $1.9 million difference between the level service and level funding budget figure for FY12.

Cavanaugh said the building-based supply budget has been cut by 7 percent, a further reduction from FY11's 10 percent cut. She added attrition and retirements were used for staff cuts where possible.

Proposed staff reductions that were presented include a high school resource officer and secretary, a special education secretary, secretaries at both the junior high and Doering school and a part-time school counselor and athletic director. One math and one physical education teacher at the high school would be eliminated, and tech education and social studies vacancies would not be filled.

At the junior high, retirement vacancies in the social studies, math and English departments would not be filled and two team paraprofessionals would be eliminated. Doering, Clark and Granger schools would each lose one teacher; Clark and Granger would also lose a reading recovery teacher. Phelps would lose two teachers, Robinson one teacher, and both schools would lose a reading recovery teacher.

Other proposals to close the budget gap include an increase in the full-day kindergarten and student high-school parking fees, a busing fee, athletic, band and club fees and the elimination of freshman sports.

Cavanaugh said the budget as presented did not include a reduction in special education services for Agawam students.

"Our proposal is to use the before-and after-school program funding [for special education] because these are after-school services that these children receive," she said.

She also said these budget alterations were not confirmed.

"These numbers are fluid," Cavanaugh said. "We're still getting data and we're still looking at proposals. We're still working on this."

She said the proposed budget was slated to be an agenda item for consideration at the March 22 School Committee meeting.