School Committee briefed on budget
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - The School Department's financial picture for fiscal year (FY) 2009 was a good news-bad news scenario at the School Committee's Feb. 6 meeting.

First the good news: the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Cherry Sheets have been released and Westborough is scheduled to receive more than $700,000 more than originally expected in Chapter 70 aid.

The town had been told to expect about $3.73 million in Chapter 70 funds, but based on Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed budget, Westborough will receive about $4.43 million, an increase of $701,622 over the estimated figure.

In addition, Westborough will receive more than $120,000 in tuition for students who attend Westborough High via school choice, an increase of $52,400 over last year.

Those two figures, along with a slight ($584) decrease in school lunch income, results in a potential net financial gain of $753,338 over what was estimated.

"Very good news indeed," Westborough School Superintendent Anne Towle said.

School Committee Chair Rod Jane agreed.

"It is positive news," Jane said, "and a testament to the high quality of education provided in Westborough by its school and all of their dedicated staff . The high quality of education our children receive here is something we have always known, but something like this shows that people outside our town are aware of it, too."

Now, the bad news: in discussing the development of the FY 2009 budget, Towle highlighted three areas that show a significant financial increase from the FY 2008 budget - school building electricity costs, super longevity among teachers and maternity leave among teachers.

Towle explained to the committee that Westborough has been locked into its current electric rates for five years, but that contract will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The negotiated rate for the upcoming contract is expected to be an increase of about 80 percent over the current rate.

"It's really a matter of being a victim of your previous success," Westborough School Department Business Manager Dan Hendricks told the School Committee. "You've been locked into a great, great rate."

As for what Towle called "super longevity among teachers," it's an annual program that provides additional stipends to long-tenured teachers. After 15 years of service, a teacher receives a $2,000 stipend for three years. After 20 years, the three-year stipend increases to $3,000.

In the last two years, six teachers, three each year, have participated in the program, but 15 teachers have already signed up to participate in the program next year.

Maternity leave pay is an area that is often absorbed into the budget, Towle explained, through faculty retirements. This year, with just one known retirement and 27 teachers either on or going on maternity leave - up from 20 last year, the cost is going to be considerable.

"We have a young staff; it's adding up to a significant amount of money," Towle said. "We're certainly not discouraging our young teachers and their families from having babies, not at all; we're just pointing out that it causes a significant financial impact. You're paying two people, the teacher on maternity leave and their replacement, to do one job. That gets expensive."

Towle said the maternity leave budget is usually about $200,000, but this year it will be around $250,000.