No layoffs in revised Lynn school budget

LYNN – School officials have pared the department’s fiscal 2011 budget from a bloated $107.3 million to a balanced $106.1 million, a bottom line that will be discussed at an Aug. 31 public hearing before the School Committee.The School Department budget initially proposed on May 27 required a $1.2 million reduction. School Superintendent Catherine Latham said the latter version of the budget, submitted June 18, was balanced through a variety of means, including the elimination of seven school librarian positions, trimming supplies and not replacing an estimated 45 employees who retired or otherwise left the school system.No changes were made to the department’s hefty transportation costs for special needs students receiving services outside of the city, according to the superintendent.”Our director of transportation, Dave Hegan, does an excellent job estimating and monitoring our transportation budget,” Latham said. “It is a lot of cost, but some of the children in our district are very needy.”Thomas Iarrobino, the School Committee secretary, said the budget paring caused pain but was ultimately successful. “The budget process this year has been longer than normal,” he said. “There was a lot of careful scrutiny because of the cuts we had to make. In the end, there was a sufficient number of retirements so that no people hit the street. We still lost staff, but those who were laid off will be called back.”Iarrobino noted that the superintendent and Kevin McHugh, the school business manager, were able to identify non-salary expenses that could be cut. “There is pain, but the budget was brought down,” he said.According to Latham, the process of tweaking the budget and checking class sizes continues, with a final meeting before the finance subcommittee scheduled prior to the public hearing at Breed Middle School.”We have to address mobility – people moving in and out of the district,” said Latham. “We are seeing some increase in students coming in from parochial and private schools, which probably speaks to the state of the economy.”Latham emphasized that the full-time librarian positions in the larger schools were eliminated, but those employees remain in the system by bidding on other jobs. “We closed the positions but did not necessarily lose those full-time people,” she said.As for the approximately 45 teachers, clerks and paraprofessionals no longer part of the department, Latham said their departures were due to retirement, career change, relocation, marriage, child birth or other reasons.The $1.2 million cut represented the School Department’s share of the city’s overall $1.9 million shortfall. Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy was able to balance the municipal side of the budget without layoffs. Lynn Teachers Union members voted in June to reject Latham’s proposal of an unpaid furlough to cover the shortfall.Although the school budget was later trimmed, Latham said it does not reflect the actual state of the department’s finances.”The budget is down, but we need $2.5 million more just to maintain teacher salaries, the increases in pay steps, general operating costs, utilities and health insurance,” she said. “It’s just like a household budget. The essential things get more expensive, so you have to keep cutting somewhere. So even if we were level-funded, even if I had received the same amount as last year, we would still need another approximately $2.5 million to maintain our level playing field.”Given this dilemma, the department shortfall is closer to $3.7 million – the $1.2 million slashed and the $2.5 million needed, she said.Latham must also grapple with improving academic performance at the Harrington and Connery elementary schools in order to obtain much-needed federal funds.The principals at both of the so-called Level 4 schools were replaced earlier this year. “Right now, we have to apply for competitive grants to fund those schools. First we have to submit a redesign plan to the DOE (state Department of Education) by