Controversy ends — $9.5m of School Support Stays on City's Books for 1 More Year

With a 5-0 vote, the City Council Finance Subcommittee on Monday, May 16, approved a school support budget of $9,534,751, thus keeping that budget within the city's overall budget, which includes public safety, DPW and other departments.

, who is also chair of the Marlborough School Committee, last month proposed that school support expenses should be absorbed within the school department budget.

At the time, the mayor drew the because the board had just adopted its budget. School committee members said they were taken by surprise because they had worked for months on a budget that did not consider school support, and were just doing what had been done in the past.

Most of the $9.5 million school support represents health care and unemployment compensation costs.

At the Finance Subcommittee meeting, said there was never a conversation about the process on how the school department would absorb the support budget.

"It's something that we can take on next year. But we are definitely not ready to do so within the next 30 days (with the new fiscal year beginning July 1)," he said.

City Council President Arthur G. Vigeant also said the school support budget definitely belongs on the school side, "but it should be implemented over the next 12 months, not the next 30 days."

Thomas Abel, Marlborough's Comptroller/Treasurer said he has managed the school support budget for years. "It takes about 30 minutes every two weeks."

Mayor Stevens said the school support budget does not need to be managed but maintained as an accounting entry.

When you have a change in the status of an employee (in health care or employment), then you may have a change in the benefit, she explained.

In the end, the finance subcommittee voted to cut $57,000 from the school support health care line item to arrive at the $9.5 million figure.

Superintendent Pope said he expects to have 733 staff positions, but that could change over the next few weeks as a result of unanticipated moves such as retirements, attrition consolidations or state mandated additional special needs teachers.

Overall, the finance subcommittee voted 4-1 to reduce the school committee's submitted budget by $250,000, for a total school budget of $49,514,206.

Ward 2 Councilor Paul Ferro voted against the motion and had previously moved to cut the school budget by $500,000. He said the city council "hammers" department heads on the city side of the budget, which has been reduced by $950,000 up to this point.

At-Large Councilor Steven Levy said, "Cuts need to be balanced and we have to hold managers accountable."

Voting in favor of the $250,000 cut to the proposed school committee budget were At-Large Councilor and chairman of the finance subcommittee Michael Ossing, Ward 1 Councilor Joseph F. Delano Jr., At-Large Councilor Patricia Pope and Ward 5 Councilor Robert M. Seymour.

Ossing told Superintendent Pope that he wasn't pleased with the school budget because it did not clearly delineate spending items.

"You get a hall pass on this one for this year," he told Pope.

Pope said about $1.3 million of the proposed $1.5 million increase in the school committee budget was due to negotiated salary increases for teachers, which was done prior to his arrival as the new superintendent last summer.

Two of seven bargaining units -- teachers and custodians -- within the school system have negotiated contracts in force for FY 2012.

Other increases in the school budget include $93,000 for middle school athletics programs and about a 3 percent increase for student transportation and fuel costs, Pope said.

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