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01/15/2018 11:00 PMSuperintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman kicked off the first of many public presentations and debates of the fiscal year 2018-’19 Board of Education (BOE) budget on Jan. 8. As is tradition, Freeman presented his proposed budget to the BOE that evening and the board and the public will now have the opportunity to review the budget before a final version is voted on by the BOE at the end of January.
Freeman’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year totals $60,169,175, a $1,519,039 or 2.59 percent increase in spending over last year’s $58,650,136 referendum-approved budget.
“With one exception, that is the lowest initial budget the leadership team has ever brought to the Board of Education in my time as superintendent,” said Freeman, who has served in his role since 2011.
Freeman said, as he has in previous years, that this is not a status quo budget and that the administration tries to craft a budget that is responsive to the needs of the district and financial realities.
The main cost drivers for the coming year include salary increases at $600,972, medical increases at $456,484, capital increases at $328,536, transportation increases at $308,563, and a special services increase $153,500. Freeman said it’s important to note that the cost drivers would suggest an overall budget increase of close to $1.8 million, but through savings realized in other areas, the administration kept the requested increase at $1.5 million.
“Salaries every year are identified as an efficiency and a cost driver,” he said, because the district tries to keep the salary line under control through efficient hiring practices. “While we do maintain or control cost in the salary line, again we have to recognize that salary is the single largest expenditure that we have, and even a small increase in that line is going to represent a large increase overall. So while your salary increase floats around 1.7 percent, it represents a dollar increase of $600,000 this year to meet the contractual obligations, to continue to maintain the class sizes, and to continue to maintain the offerings that we offer currently in the Guilford Public School system.”
In addition to contractual increase, the budget includes the addition of 3 ½ positions—one part-time paraprofessional educator (to assist a teacher in the classroom), two elementary music teachers, and one elementary teacher at Calvin Leete Elementary School to help with the enrollment bubble at that particular school.
Some members of the BOE asked why Freeman included two positions for music after board members heard from parents asking about visual art at a public hearing back in 2017. Freeman said while he would have liked to add both, when he looked at the state recommended level of contact time for elementary students for music and art, the district fell below recommended levels in both areas, but more significantly in music than art. Freeman said elementary staff and parents have asked for more music instruction for years now and with the two new teachers, students will have 60 minutes of music instruction a week rather than 30.
Another cost driver this year is transportation. Freeman said district’s five-year bus contract is up this year and he believes putting that service out to bid is going to increase costs.
“We are anticipating a 20 percent increase in our busing costs,” he said. “We were below market value for several years now and this is a cost correction, it’s a market correction…That alone represents a half a percent increase in the overall budget.”
On the plus side, Freeman said the district will benefit from cost savings in certain areas this year like special education. Over the years the district has worked to increase special education services in the schools to try and avoid outplacements, which can be costly. “We are very proud of the work we’ve done in special education, not because it’s reduced cost, but because it has improved programming for these students and in the bargain we have been able to control the cost along the way,” he said.
The BOE now has the opportunity to review the budget before public hearings, but one item that has been the focus of public debate was noticeably absent from the budget presentation: a later start time at the high school. In his letter included with the budget proposal, Freeman explains the lack of a dollar amount.
“While the board is aware that I have been meeting with a task force to examine possible changes to our high school start time, we are not prepared at this time to make any recommendation that could be reasonably priced out for inclusion in this budget,” the letter reads. “…To be clear, the lack of a budget figure does not preclude the possibility of a cost-neutral recommendation coming from the Start Time Task Force, nor does it limit the board’s ability to add a budget figure to this proposed budget.” The BOE budget public hearings are Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 22 and 23 in the Adams School chorus room at 7:30 p.m. The budget proposal can be viewed on the district website www.guilfordschools.org.