Citizens for Needham Schools: Past Newsletters

Needham's 2009 Annual Town Meeting concluded on May 18, with no surprises for the schools. Read on for more information on the FY10 school department budget and the Newman remediation project.

Town Meeting members approved a FY10 school budget of $45.4 million., the same budget voted by the School Committee in January and recommended by the Town Manager in her town budget.

This budget represents a $2.7 million, or 6.4% increase, over FY09. The costs of running High Rock account for $1.1 million of the increase, and the successful November 2008 override will fund those costs. Without High Rock, this budget represents a 3.9% increase over FY09.

The 3.9% increase keeps the school budget within the limits of Needham's historical annual revenue increase of 4%. However, it does not allow the schools to maintain services: limiting the FY10 increase to 3.9% required making $678,000 in cuts. Those cuts include 5.0 teachers, (2.5 teachers at Needham High School), 1.2 nurses, and 1.91 support personnel. Limiting the increase to 3.9% also meant excluding $800,000 in requests from principals and department chairs as well as any restorations of past cuts.

The FY10 school budget will not be set until the Massachusetts state budget is complete this summer. The state budget continues to shift and new information has been received about expected grants and the ARRA money from the federal government. The School Committee hopes to receive the state aid it has budgeted for, and the voted Senate budget is close to what was expected for overall aid to the town. The School Committee also had hoped to restore one teacher and one nurse with state grant funds. Neither of these grants is coming through as expected, but those positions may be supported with ARRA funds. Otherwise, further cuts elsewhere will need to be made. In addition, there are a couple of spots in the district where increased enrollment will require additional teaching positions. The most notable are the 19 kindergarten-age children who have moved into the Broadmeadow district in the past year.

The House and Senate are conferencing on the budget now. While nothing has been passed, the House and Senate are discussing the increase in the state sales tax from 5% to 6.25%, the ability for cities and towns to levy a meals tax of up to 2%, a change in the way telephone poles are taxed, a decrease in special education circuit breaker funds, and the lowering of the MSBA funding floor from 40% to 31% reimbursement. The School Committee, in cooperation with the town, will have to respond to these discussions throughout the summer, as the state makes decisions that affect Needham's school budget. Fortunately, preliminary information suggests MSBA projects currently in the pipeline, such as the Newman School, will be grandfathered under existing reimbursement guidelines. Until the votes are counted, we will not know for sure.

Newman Remediation Project

Town Meeting approved $450,000 for feasibility, design, and engineering services for the repairs to the Newman School.

The design will be based on a plan to renovate Newman over two summers and one school year. During the renovation, Newman preschool, kindergarten, and KASE students will be housed in the Pollard modulars and grades 1-5 will be housed in modular classrooms on the Newman campus. On June 2, the town attended the MSBA Design Review Board to review proposals from architects for design documentation for the Newman School. Drummey Rosane Anderson, the architect who has worked on the feasibility study for the past year, was awarded the contract to continue their work with the town. The next step will be schematic design and project cost estimating. The town expects to discuss the project scope and funding agreement with the MSBA this fall and to bring the project back to Town Meeting and to an override later this year. There will be opportunity for community input in late summer and early fall.

You can read more about the Newman project on the Needham Public Schools website: www.needham.k12.ma.us. Click on Newman Updates.

Governor Patrick comes to Needham!

Governor Patrick will be holding a town hall forum in Needham on June 16th at 6:30 PM. The forum will be held on the Needham Town Hall Green located at 1471 Highland Avenue Needham, MA. The rain out location is the Needham High School Gym located at 609 Webster St Needham, MA.

Come hear directly from the Governor, ask questions and discuss issues that matter to you. This event is free and open to the public, so please bring friends, family and neighbors!