Swampscott braces for FY2010 budgets

SWAMPSCOTT-There will be a joint meeting of several town boards at 7:30 p.m. this evening in the high school to discuss the 2010 Fiscal Year budget, and the schools are already bracing for the worst.The Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Finance Committee will be discussing their predictions for FY ?10, which begins July 1, 2009.Town Administrator Andrew Maylor said in previous years the town started examining the budget for upcoming fiscal years in November.?That was always seen as the kick off to the budget season,” he said. “The charter calls for an annual financial forecast each November. We have always complied with that and that will not change.”Maylor admits the budget discussions are starting early this year, which he said is by design.?There has been a commitment by this School Committee and Board of Selectmen to begin the budget discussion as early as possible,” he said. “We want to allow residents and tax payers to understand what we are dealing with because after Machon (Elementary School) closed there was a sentiment among some residents that there wasn’t enough advance planning so we have started looking at the budget earlier.”Maylor said the FY ?10 budget is going to be a very difficult one, and early dialog is essential to facilitating the process.?We need communication to make it through this,” he said. “We need to start working together as early as possible.”School Committee Chairman David Whelan said every plausible budget scenario would require cuts in the schools unless there are additional sources of revenue.?Numbers aren’t final,” he said. “But layoffs are on the horizon if things don’t change. Every situation that would require us to make cuts gets to the issue of personnel. You can not solve a budget problem of this magnitude unless you lay off people ? teachers, administrators, everybody.”Whelan said he is concerned the budget cut discussion could start an exodus from the district, which would create additional problems.?I do worry if there are further layoffs some parents will look into other education opportunities,” he said. “I am concerned parents will pull their kids from the district and send them to private schools and charter schools. That in turn would result in less money for the schools.”Whelan said state funding, which comes in the form of Chapter 70 aid, is crucial to the schools and must be increased.?Fixing the Chapter 70 funding formula is critical,” he said. “Adopting the GIC (group insurance plan through the state) is critical. That would save almost $1 million a year.”Whelan urged every resident to attend the meeting.?This will be the first opportunity to see how the schools could be affected during the next budget cycle,” he said.