Budget Committee Town Meetings

RCL notes of School Budget Committee Public Hearing Jan. 11, 2017

1.  The Budget Committee revoted its approval of the school operating budget after a $67,906 increase to pay for Rye’s share of a new Assistant Business Manager at the SAU 50 office (0:00 elapsed).
2.  A resident challenged the need for an approximately $330,000 increase in the Special Education Budget, which is up from approximately $1 million to $1.7 million since 2013.  During the same time period, the budgets at the two schools (excluding Special Education) are flat, necessitating teacher reductions as salaries increase.  Rye Junior High enrollments are declining as parents are choosing to send their children elsewhere (17:13 elapsed).
3.  The calculation of the default budget was challenged.  It is only $120,000 less than the proposed operating budget, which is up approximately $650,000 from 2016-2017.  The default budget is supposed to equal the prior year’s budget, with certain adjustments specified by law (86:59 elapsed).
4.  Article 2, to add $75,000 to the School Buildings and Grounds Expendable Trust, received general support (115:32 elapsed).
5.  Article 3, to form a committee to study combining the two schools in on location, was discussed (134:08 elapsed).