Local Columns
From the superintendent's desk…
A look at the school budget
By Henry R. Scipione, Ed.D.
York Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Henry R. Scipione
The budget proposal was designed to achieve three specific goals: present a budget that reflects the needs of our students and can be supported by the York community; honor the School Committee's commitment to stay within the York Tax Relief Task Force model, and focus on the direction defined in York's Educational Strategic Plan.
The fiscal 2008 budget reflects a 4.1 percent increase from last year's budget and is below the target established by the York Tax Task Force. Our teachers, administrators and School Committee worked diligently to present this budget at a reasonable level of increase. In summary, the fiscal 2008 budget allows for the following.
Implements a full-day kindergarten program. Currently our kindergarten students attend school for less than three hours per day. The new program will expand that time for students to a full school day. At the present time 71 percent of all school districts in Maine offer full-day kindergarten programs. There is considerable research as to why a full-day program will benefit kindergarten-aged students. The full-day program will be optional for parents who choose not to have their child attend school for a full day. Because we are able to shift the teaching positions, the full-day kindergarten program can be implemented without increasing any staff positions. Thus, implementing a full-day kindergarten program will be cost neutral.
Adjusts teaching positions to accommodate enrollment change. The York Schools are experiencing enrollment decline. We currently have 1,971 students enrolled K-12 with the projection of 1,902 for next year. These changes have allowed us to realign our staff and to support a full-day kindergarten program as noted above. This change will be accomplished without increasing teaching positions. We are carefully monitoring our enrollment trends. Affordable housing continues to be a challenge for young families in York and the York Schools are experiencing the impact of this trend. We have been able to accomplish this shift while maintaining our commitment to reasonable class sizes.
Targets maintenance needs in all schools. York has made a considerable investment in our school buildings and we are committed to maintaining the facilities to protect that investment. We are requesting a slight increase in our maintenance article to provide for the needs of our buildings. Included in this request are improvements in all four schools and specific details are defined in the warrant article.
Addresses increased energy costs. Costs for fuel oil, electricity and other energies continue to be a challenge for all of us. The proposed school budget reflects the adjustments needed to respond to this increasing cost. There are specific cost-cutting measures in place in our schools, which have helped in minimizing the increase. Included in these measures is that we are now seeing the positive impact of our Honeywell energy changes, which has proven a significant savings to our energy usage.
Responds to increasing special education needs. There is one request for staffing within this proposed budget and that is for two educational technicians to assist students with special education needs. This funding is necessary because the state has eliminated financial support for 3.5 educational technician positions. Due to the need and number of students, it was necessary to keep two of the 3.5 positions. Support of this article will allow us to continue to fund these two special education educational technician positions.
Holds instructional expenses increases below .5 percent. We were able to keep instructional expenses at less than .5 percent of the increase. The request will meet the needs of our students and programs while being held at a minimal increase.
Capital project. The community will be asked to support one capital project for new bleachers and a broadcast tower at York High School. The bleachers at the high school were originally purchased in the 1960s and were relocated from the old high school to the upper field when the school was built and opened in the fall of 1977. At the end of the fall sports season, the bleachers were dismantled because sections had collapsed and were unsafe for use. The tower on the upper field, used for broadcast, game officials and spotters, was considered a hazard by the town's engineer and was taken down at the same time. The capital warrant article will fund bleachers for 800 spectators and a booth at the top row for broadcast, game officials and spotters. This project would also provide funding for architectural services to design a combination concession/locker room/public restroom facility. The cost of the bleacher project will come from the school's fund balance and therefore raises no additional tax monies.
Strategic planning and student achievement. The York Schools budget is developed with a priority on our Educational Strategic Plan. Our Educational Strategic Plan is the planning document we use to articulate the future direction of our school. Each year the status of implementation of our Strategic Plan is evaluated and revised to reflect the changes we deem appropriate to keep the York Schools current and directed toward the future. The expectations set forth in the Strategic Plan are ambitious and reflect our commitment to maintaining exemplary schools in York. This will continue to be the focus of our efforts as we seek to continually improve our students' achievement through high quality curriculum, effective instruction and assessment that assists us in making prudent decisions about educational programming.
York student performance on large-scale assessments continues to be strong. The profile of York students is consistently above national and state averages. Our students continue to do well on measures of achievement, including the Maine Education Assessments (MEA), the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress, and York's Comprehensive Local Assessment system (CLAS). These measures are designed to assess students' current levels of performance and provide teachers with valuable information that helps identify different teaching strategies that can be used to help students increase their achievement.
York has a long history of supporting our schools and has provided necessary support for our children. As a result, there have been sacrifices made in York for the purpose of supporting education. These sacrifices have resulted in a strong, effective and efficient school system; a system that focuses on the individual student and provides the support for each student to succeed. With your support we can continue to provide a quality educational experience for all students in York. I ask for your endorsement of the fiscal 2008 school budget.
