Phys. Ed, music restored in Swampscott schools budget

SWAMPSCOTT – Physical education and music at the elementary level, vocational classes in the high school, and library services at the middle school have been added back into the district budget.Superintendent Matthew Malone told the School Committee Thursday evening he was able to buy back these programs, which were cut from an earlier version of his budget. But the news was not all encouraging.”For three years we have received less than adequate funding,” he said.Malone said the district has a $20 million budget and he only budgeted $40,000 for contingency costs, which he admits could be a problem.”It’s quite scary,” he said. “And I feel somewhat irresponsible in creating a budget that has no lean.”He went on to say the only alternative would be to eliminate more positions.Malone said he cut $15,000 for athletic director stipends from his recommended budget, correcting salary levels and increases in funding from the METCO program allowed him to retain the programs.Last month the School Committee approved Malone’s recommended budget of$23,035,556 and sent to it to the Finance Committee, but the budget was not balanced.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor recommended allocating $22.2 million for the schools, which is approximately $720,000 more than it received last year. According to Maylor, an additional $220,000 is available from the town because health insurance premiums did not increase as expected.But school officials said it is still not enough to meet the needs of the district and there is still a deficit of $816,000 between the budget approved by the School Committee and the money earmarked for schools.Malone’s zero-deficit budget includes a district-wide, all-day kindergarten program, which will be paid in part by state grants and an increase in Chapter 70 funds.The zero-deficit budget also reduced the amount of money in the budget to pay substitute teachers by $118,000, which Malone said is a concern.The School Committee did not vote or take any action on the budget.In other business, the School Committee voted unanimously not to participate in school choice, a state program that allows a school district to bring in students from other districts to fill empty seats. School committees in the state are required to vote on whether to accept or reject school choice every year.