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Nashua school officials reconcile budget

By Staff | Jun 29, 2016

NASHUA – After reducing an additional $438,000 from the city’s draft education budget, school officials Wednesday night approved a budget that matches the city’s bottom line for school spending for the 2016-17 school year.

The vote – which came two days before the start of the next fiscal year – followed the Board of Aldermen’s approval of the overall city budget Tuesday evening. “The city has passed the final budget. Unfortunately, that number is not the number we provided to the city that we would have liked to have seen,” said Robert Hallowell, chairman of the school board’s Budget Committee.

In April, the board passed a draft operating budget for 2017 at $105.1 million, an increase of 2.68 percent over the 2016 budget. However, Mayor Jim Donchess and city aldermen approved an increase of 2.25 percent for education, meaning the school board had to trim $438,879 to reach the target of $104.7 million.

At the Wednesday Budget Committee meeting, school district Business Manager Dan Donovan and Superintendent Mark Conrad presented a list of reductions for the committee to consider, which were all ultimately approved by the board in a 6-2 vote. Sandra Ziehm and Dorothy Oden cast the two nay votes, and Elizabeth Van Twuyver was absent. Robert Hallowell, George Farrington, David Murotake, Howard Coffman, Doris Hohensee and Bill Mosher voted for the budget.

“The first item we have listed here is to eliminate the (career and technical education) capital reserve allocation for $125,000,” Donovan said.

Because out-of-district tuition will now go directly to the district and not the city, that will help support the maintenance of career and technical education programs, he said. The out-of-district tuition from the past year topped $80,000.

The board eliminated a second new substance-abuse counselor position for $50,000. However one new counselor remained in the 2017 budget.

“I see this person working closely with our guidance counselors and principals,” Conrad said, noting the new position will split time between both high schools. “It could be individual counseling sessions, it could be small group counseling sessions or family sessions.”

Coffman said there might be resources outside the school to supplant the need for a substance-abuse counselor at the high school. “I guess if the kids are high they can’t learn and read, but I feel like we’re shifting the focus away from education,” he said.

“What we’re finding,” said Conrad, “is there are insufficient resources in the community.”

“I advocated strongly for this position in the budget,” said Oden. She said the availability of outside help in the community is limited and may come with a long wait time, “We have to make sure we take care of our kids.”

Murotake said sometimes students need help with family members who are affected by substance abuse. “One of the real pressing issues for young people is they have either one or two parents either addicted or in jail,” he said.

A new elementary-level health teacher position was eliminated from the 2017 budget for a savings of $45,815. The administration also recommended decreasing a proposed day-rate increase for substitute teachers. Decreasing the increase from $3 to $2 per day is projected to save $15,000.

“It’s sad that the district is picking on its most vulnerable staff. Everyone else is governed by union representation,” said Coffman, a former Nashua substitute, “I oppose any reduction in the substitute pay base or increase.”

Hallowell said the budget still increases substitute pay by $2, “We can try to do this every year, but it’s a number we can adjust, and I think it’s acceptable.”

A new reading program called the “Lucy Calkin units of reading” was eliminated for a saving of $52,000. “It takes a lot of energy, planning and time to put in place a new curriculum,” Conrad said, “There’s a lot happening at the elementary level, and we don’t have clear leadership in place.”

Another reduction decreased the number of proposed paraeducators in the budget from 12 to eight, for a savings of $60,000.

Oden voted against the final budget proposal based on the reduction of the paraeducators. “This has been difficult, and I respect the other members for their vote, but I will not be supporting this, because of the elimination of the paraeducator support, because it directly affects the classroom,” she said.

Donovan recommended reducing $12,000 for summer interns since it is late in the season to hire interns anyway. Members also reduced additional funding for crossing guards to save $10,000, as well as a reduction in “Discovery Streaming” and other software revisions for a savings of $20,000. Finally, funding for telephone lines was reduced by $15,044.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 5946402, tforbes@nashua telegraph.com or @Telegraph_ TinaF.

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