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Citizens for Needham Schools (CNS) is a committee dedicated to advocating for strong public schools, educating the public on issues pertaining to school department funding and capital projects, and supporting the School Administration and the School Committee in their efforts to provide quality education for Needham’s students.
Our latest newsletter:
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Citizens For Needham Schools Update |
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| And other topics of interest to the Schools Community |
December 19, 2005 |
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Greetings,
It's been a while since our last email in
October. As usual, there is much to report.
Read on...
School Budget Update
Each year around the holidays we get the first
look at the School Budget, and Citizens for
Needham Schools tries to summarize the budget
for our newsletter readers. The information
below is based on documents distributed at the
December 6 School Committee meeting, and some
adjustments may be made to these numbers as the
School Committee deliberates. The Budget
Hearing is scheduled for January 17. This
meeting is specifically to get community input
and answer questions.
The FY07 budget
The FY07 budget provides funds for the 2006-2007
school year. It is developed based on data
available now. The FY07 budget represents a
nearly 10% increase over the FY06 budget.
The Needham Times has quoted the Superintendent,
facing his last budget of his long career:
"I don't see how the needs of this
school system can be met without an override,"
he told the Times. He calls this budget the
worst he's had to put together in 21 years -
seven as superintendent - because the rising
costs of education don't match available new
revenue. "I am mindful that this request will
exceed any potential revenue available to the
town," he said at the Dec. 6 School Committee
meeting.
The FY07 budget is further complicated because
$713,000 of FY05 money was used to purchase FY06
needs. Although this prevented further cuts to
this year's (FY06) budget, they need to be added
back into the FY07 budget.
The FY07 budget provides funds for the 2006-2007
school year. It is developed based on data
available now. The FY07 budget represents a
nearly 10% increase over the FY06 budget.
| FY06 operating budget |
$36,373,138 |
| Restoration of pre-purchases |
$713,000 |
| Baseline FY06 operating budget |
$37,086,138 |
| Contractual salary increases |
$1,746,148 |
| Special Education increases |
$541,386 |
| Enrollment-related |
$490,548 |
| Technology support |
$162,744 |
| Administrative support |
$388,347 |
| Other increases |
$340,098 |
| FY07 operating budget |
$40,755,409 |
Note that the budget is still preliminary. This
budget was presented to the School Committee on
December 6, and School Committee is still in
discussion.
Needham Times Budget Article
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Superintendent Search Update |
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The Superintendent Search Committee reports that
they have finished reviewing the resumes of 30+
applicants for Needham's Superintendent of
Schools. The Search Committee has selected
eight applicants whom they have begun
interviewing. They plan to announce the 3
finalists at the December 20 School Committee
meeting. The School Committee will then
interview the finalists. Community members will
be able to hear from the candidates, and ask
questions at sessions to take place in
conjunction with the January School Committee
meetings. The final decision should be reached
by the end of January.
In an environment with limited eligible
candidates, and over 40 superintendent vacancies
statewide, Needham is fortunate to have such an
excellent pool of candidates, mostly due to two
factors.
Needham put the search process in place ahead of
most other communities looking to fill
superintendent positions at the start of the
2006/2007 school year. And, as a credit to
Needham residents, numerous candidates have
cited the strong community support for
maintaining a first-rate school system as a
primary reason they are drawn to Needham.
Most cities and towns are facing the same budget
challenges as Needham, but few towns have
grassroots organizations like CNS, along with
dedicated volunteers and voters committed to
quality public education.
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Principals Search Update |
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Superintendent Steve Theall is very pleased with
the number and quality of applicants he has
received to replace retiring principals at
Newman, Hillside and Pollard. Candidates have
come from both inside and outside the Needham
school system. It is anticipated that all three
principal positions will be filled by early
February.
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New High School Wing Continues Good Progress |
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Have you had the pleasure of passing by the new
High School wing recently? If not, you will be
amazed by the progress that has been made! The
Permanent Public Building Committee reports that
construction is on schedule. High School
students and teachers expect to be using the new
classroom space at the start of the next school
year!
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School Start/End Times -- A Work in Progress |
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Community input, along with the hard work of
administrators and school committee members, has
resulted in seven proposed school start/end time
recommendations. The proposed plans were
presented at the School Committee meeting on
December 6. The factors related to this issue
include the need for more instructional time at
Pollard, the need for morning sleep time for
this age group, and the extra cost of buses to
meet both of these needs. The teachers' contract
now allows for the addition of 20 minutes of
instructional time per day at Pollard, but while
adding 20 minutes to the start of the day will
have no increased cost, adding 20 minutes to the
end of the day adds costs and may change the
times of the other schools.
The challenge is to develop a schedule that is
practical for working parents, addresses the
sleep and supervision needs of the students and
is cost effective for Needham taxpayers.
The School Committee will make a final decision
this winter.
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Save January 18th -- Initiative for Local Aid |
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Did you realize that Needham lost $900,999 in
FY04 from the State (a 20% cut in Chapter 70
School Funds) and none of that money has been
restored?
A follow up rally to last year's Fund Our Future
will be held at the State House on January 18 in
the Great Hall from 11am - 1pm. This rally is
called the Initiative for Local Aid and is a
grassroots advocacy effort to support increased
aid to municipalities and to help maintain
quality education in Massachusetts.
If you are interested and willing to attend,
please email Amy Goldman about carpooling.
Email Amy! »
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More to come after January 1! |
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Have a wonderful holiday season!
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| Quick Links... |
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email: info@needhamyes.com
voice: 781-449-7458
web: http://www.needhamyes.com
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Be an informed voter
Citizens for Needham Schools has compiled a great deal of documentation about town finances and school department budgets. In addition, we offer links to topical articles about the state of public school standards, performance and funding.
Can you help?
Please let us know by subscribing to our Mailing List. You'll be able to tell us with your preferences how you want to volunteer so that we can best use your talents OR you'll be able to just stay informed. All you need to do is to enter your email in the box below and confirm your preferences. Thanks for your support!
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