Nahant school costs may rise nearly $50G

NAHANT – The Nahant school district has resolved its last outstanding special education placement, prompting the proposed 2013 school budget to increase by roughly $50,000 and a request for $5,031 from the town’s Reserve Fund to pay attorneys.”The total budget increased from roughly $414,000 to $466,865 as a result of finalizing the last case in special education, and we have a firm figure for placements of the remainder of the year this year,” Superintendent Philip Devaux told the School Committee Tuesday night.”This will be to pay the remainder of what we owe for the [legal bill],” School Committee Chairperson Christine Kendall said later in the meeting after the board approved a request the Advisory and Finance Committee transfer $5,031.44 from the town’s reserve fund.The special education placement requires the district spend $42,791 for out-of-district tuition and $7,725 to hire a paraprofessional this year for the child, according to documents distributed at the meeting. But Devaux said in an “experiment”the district will save salary and benefits costs by hiring the paraprofessional itself.But the settlement increases the amount by which 2012 special education costs exceed budgeted amounts.Devaux said that many towns normally handle such costs through a warrant article at town meeting to transfer money from other accounts. Nahant has instead tried to make up the costs through the next year’s school budget. But this has led to special education costs and increases exceeding the 2012 budget by $146,094 and the 2011 budget by $44,540, according to budget documents.The School Committee unanimously approved two articles to be submitted to the Town Meeting warrant and asking voters “to “appropriate or transfer from available funds” money to pay for these costs.The first of the proposed articles does not specify an amount to address the 2012 budget.The second of the proposed articles specifies $44,450 that exceeded the 2011 budget due to a legal settlement.Devaux said the amount of money for the first article – as well as the source of funds for both articles – would be decided among the school committee and finance committee by Town Meeting. The figures would take into consideration any other money that might be available in school or municipal budgets such as decreased overtime or utilities expenses due to a so-far mild winter.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].