Milton Public Schools Superintendent Update: FY20 Budget

Below is the March 19th FY20 budget update provided by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Glenn Pavlicek:

The Warrant Committee has approved an initial recommendation for the Town’s FY 20 budget. While revenue numbers are still only preliminary, the requests from Town departments clearly exceeded the anticipated revenue, forcing departments to scale back not only their budgetary requests for next year, but also their current level of service.

For the School Department, the effects are two-fold. First, while we asked for a number of positions to be added, including two High School teachers to reduce class size, four elementary recess aides, a new Special Education program at the Middle School and a Transitions program at the High School, none of these were able to be funded. The only new positions to be added are two elementary school teachers to accommodate the rising enrollment.

Unfortunately, reducing those requests was not sufficient to balance the preliminary budget so further cutbacks are anticipated. At the elementary level, we will be losing one of our two Technology teachers. This is a significant loss as these instructors prepare our students for digital learning including the online MCAS exams. At the Middle School level, we will see cutbacks in our elective offerings, including one class each of Art, Music, Computers, Creative Writing and Intensive STEM. These cutbacks will require laying off some teachers and re-posting those jobs as part time. This will, of course, increase the class sizes in the remaining elective courses. At the High School, we will see a substantial cutback in Clubs and Activities with one-third or more of those groups no longer able to be offered. Extracurricular activities are an essential ingredient in the college application process and so limiting these options is of grave concern. District-wide, we will reorganize some of our clerical/administrative support.

We will continue to monitor the Town’s economic position as we move towards the final budget approval at Town Meeting in May. As Local Aid figures evolve in the State Budget and as our anticipated costs are refined, there will likely be adjustments to the School budget in the next six weeks. We are hoping that not all of these cuts will need to be realized, but this is where the budget stands currently. We will keep you informed as the process progresses.

In the meantime, you may see advertisements for various positions in the School Department. These are for replacements for staff who retire, resign or otherwise will not be returning next year. We continue to work to provide the high quality of education that our citizens expect and our students deserve.