Townspeople talk about school spending

By Tom Glynn
Staff writer

Four townspeople showed up Monday night for the school committee’s public hearing on its proposed $23.9 million budget for 2002-2003.

That’s four more people than showed up in January for the committee’s discussion when it adopted the budget, up 3.8 percent from the current academic year’s.

The major points raised by the townspeople were the lack of a long-term financial plan for the school department and a seeming lack of planning for some aspects of the high school construction project.

Resident Lew Kleinrock noted that the school committee’s budget does not include insurance and pension costs or the debt service on construction projects. Add in those costs, covered elsewhere in the municipal budget, and school spending amounts to close to $30 million a year, he said.

Whatever the uncertainties, any well-run business has a five-year plan, Kleinrock said. If the schools had one, it would make for a better dialogue with townspeople, he said. "It’s their money."

Noting that wages make up 80 percent of the $23.8 million budget, Kleinrock said that labor costs are "the key… Be honest and talk about it," he said.

"You have a union situation that has to be acknowledged," Kleinrock told the committee.

Supt. Robert Couture noted in his presentation at the start of the hearing that the salary budget for next year is $19 million, up 3 percent from this year.

The increase covers five new positions, raises for the 54 percent of the teachers not yet at the top step and premiums for some graduate credits. But it does not include money for other raises, Couture said.

The committee and unions are now negotiating for new contracts. Money for any raises in a new contract could depend on how much school aid the state provides, he indicated.

In response to Kleinrock, committee Chairman Bruce Norwell said a framework of a five-year plan exists now and will be filled out after new Supt. Kathleen Smith takes over July 1.

Committee member Richard Smith said long-term financial planning for schools is made "very difficult" by special education costs and uncertainty over state aid.

Dr. Smith recalled that school committee members recently reminded the town’s legislators that long state budget delays can make it difficult to plan even one year ahead.

Couture said special education spending this year is running about $330,000 over budget. Special education costs now account for 25 percent of the total budget; 16 percent of Walpole students receive special education services, in line with the state average but above the national average of 10 percent.

Resident Mary Ellen Vargas questioned Couture and the committee about firefighters "on time and a half" at the high school and handicap-access issues.

In January, classes resumed in the newly renovated top floor of the 1908 wing while the two floors below were still in progress. Sprinklers were not operable and the second-floor ceiling had yet to be installed. The fire chief and building inspector agreed to allow the third floor to be used only on the condition that two firefighters patrol the wing while students were in it, committee Member Jean Hogan said.

Couture conceded it cost "a huge amount of money" for the firefighters on overtime. But he predicted the contractor on the project will end up footing the bill. "The contractor did not meet the timeline" for the sprinklers and ceiling, Couture said.

(Fire Chief Ed Hartmann said that as of this week, only one firefighter is assigned to the wing because the second floor sprinklers are now in service.)

In response to another question from Vargas, Couture said the elevator in the high school started service midway through the school year because the contractor was three months behind schedule on it.

The ramp from the parking lot to the main entrance is still under discussion with the state, which is to decide whether it meets accessibility requirements.

The long, steep ramp poses a problem for injured athletes as well as other students with handicaps, Vargas said. Students should not be left to get into school by going around the back, she said.

Schools adopt $23.9 million budget

By Tom Glynn
Staff writer

The school committee has endorsed a budget for 2002-2003 that is 3.8 percent higher than the current school year’s.

The proposed expenditure is in line with revenue projections for next year, Supt. Robert Couture told the committee Monday night.

The amount "is about as much as we can anticipate," Couture said. The 3.8 percent increase will be included in the budget Town Administrator Michael Boynton will present Monday night for action by the May Town Meeting, according to Couture.

The proposed school budget for next year is $23,865,417, up $865,339 from this year’s spending.

The proposed budget does not contain any money for pay raises beyond step increases and academic credits, the superintendent said. He noted that the budget provides no raises in 2002-2003 for the 40 percent or more of Walpole teachers who are already at the top pay level.

As in other town departments, the schools will be negotiating with their unions for a three-year contract, he said. Three-year contracts provide flexibility in reaching agreements on pay, he noted.

At the end of Monday night’s meeting, the school committee went into closed session to discuss collective bargaining.

Town Administrator Boynton already has said the budget he will present at 7 p.m. Monday in Town Hall does not contain raises for non-school municipal workers.

The proposed school budget calls for five new positions. A new custodian is to be added at the expanded and renovated high school and four additional teachers will be hired because of growing enrollments.

One of the new teachers will be at the elementary level, two at Johnson Middle School and one at the high school, Couture said.

In the overall town budget for next year, only one other department will be allowed a new hire and only for one position, Couture said.

Almost all of the budget discussion Monday night focused on special education costs.

"We’re not looking for a scapegoat," Couture said. But the problem is that special education is a state mandate that the state largely leaves to the communities to fund, he said.

Over the past five years, special education costs are up an average of 10 percent a year while total school spending has grown by six percent a year, Assistant Supt. Dan Feeney said.

Special education costs now make up 24 percent of the total school budget; one out of every five pupils receives special education services, Feeney said. Those numbers are in line with state averages, he said.

Feeney said the state’s rate setting board surprised communities by allowing a sizable increase in private school charges. One school attended by several Walpole pupils was authorized a tuition increase of $14,000, bringing its per pupil charge to $58,000, he said.

Feeney said the special education programs are needed and not just because they are the law. Efforts are being made to control costs by providing programs within the town schools or in collaboration with other towns, he said.

Feeney and Couture, each with decades of school experience, noted how much more complex and expensive the programs have become.

Thirty years ago, there typically would be only one or two students receiving psychiatric help and they would be high schoolers. Now the numbers are larger and at all grade levels, Couture said.

Thirty years ago, a school system could cover itself by appropriating extra money, $10,000 or so, for one additional special education student moving in during a coming school year, he said. No longer, he said, noting the increase of newcomers entitled to new or enhanced special education services.

It costs the town up to $81,000 for placement of a child in a residential program, Feeney said. That’s half the full cost – the state pays the other half, he said.

Feeney said there is no way to be certain that the 7 percent increase for special education in next year’s budget will be enough.