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1. |
What is the cost of
late buses? (JDM stated that
this budget restores late buses to FY04 level of service) Late buses are
in the budget and will cost $23,640 in FY ’06 if we return to the FY 04
practice of 5 buses for 120 days. |
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2. |
Why is the $1200 SC
stipend still listed? Eliminated
by SC starting with FY03, but this is third year it is in.
No School
Committee stipend is listed in the FY ’06 budget. |
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3. |
Current ’05
projections indicate a budget deficiency of $223,678 (and this does
address the return of assessment for the MS roof bond funding if that
doesn’t materialize). Is
this accounted for as annualized problem into FY06? The projected
FY ’05 budget deficiency assumes the $70,000 budgeted for the Middle
School roof will be spent as
planned. There will be no
carry over to FY ’06. Tony
Repucci, the Treasurer, is requesting a letter from Bond Counsel (or the
banker) to assure the $70,000 can be spent as planned in FY 05. |
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4. |
What specifically are
District Program Specialists do at each of the schools?
Enrichment, reading? The
elementary schools’ reading specialists’ roles are consistent in
that
they all work with students (1 to 1 and small group) who’ve been identified
as needing extra instructional intervention. In some situations (Donaghue/Sweetsir)
the literacy specialists work with whole classrooms. At the
Bagnall the reading specialist has responsibility for the school’s language
arts curriculum; all literacy related diagnostic assessments; and the
supervision of the K-2 Initiative’s tutors. The Donaghue’s reading specialist
(.5) is responsible for all grade 3 & 4 reading tutorials. The
Sweetsir’s reading specialist (.5) does whole class instruction for
grades 1 and 2 and provides some support to the Kindergarten. The Sweetsir
School has two Title 1 funded reading specialists (1.8) that serve
Sweetsir’s students who have been determined to be at-risk. At
the Page the reading specialists’ (1.4) positions are shared by three staff.
Two (.6 & .4) share the responsibility of working with students in need
of remediation. Another staff member (.4) is responsible for the all reading
related diagnostic assessments. Model.
The Bagnall School’s enrichment specialist (.8) focuses on the enhancement
of classroom teachers’ curriculum units. The Donaghue’s enrichment
specialist (.8) is responsible for all grade 4-6 students focusing
on enriching and extending the science curriculum. The Page (.4) enrichment
specialist, funded via choice revenue, invests her time on writing skills at the upper grades. |
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5. |
Are Category 2
budgets still based on $240/student? For example, Donoghue’s budget for
Cat 2 is $98,713 when on a $240/student basis it would be $96,960. Category 2
elementary budgets were based on a range
of $235 to $245/student. However,
some adjustments have been due to special circumstances.
Middle School and High School were set at $245 and $250,
respectively. |
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6. |
If the Bagnall K-2
Reading Initiative is a success and worth supporting, then why aren’t we
budgeting for all three schools? The
Bagnall K-2 Reading Initiative was proposed by Interim Principal Phillip
Benincasa. It is an initiative that stemmed from last spring’s determination
that Bagnall no longer met Title 1 eligibility guidelines. As a
result the school lost a full time (1.0) teacher dedicated to the instruction
of reading. Bagnall’s K-2 Initiative will be monitored closely to determine its degree of success. |
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7. |
Why such substantial
increases to the school nurses salaries? As a result of the most recent negotiations the district’s nurses’ have been placed on the teacher’s salary schedule. |