LYNN — A proposed Fiscal Year 2021 budget that includes an additional $10.5 million investment in technology and staffing is now in the hands of the Lynn School Committee.
“I think it shows forward movement on our strategic objectives,” said School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, who laid out the budget to the School Committee last week. “And it came from embracing feedback from the community. There were some core elements that came out of that feedback with the community, including the mental health of our students, supporting special education, improvements in innovation in instruction.”
The $169.8 million budget was increased significantly from the past year due to an influx of state aid, which was a result of an uptick in enrollment in the district.
This year, the school district has enrolled an additional 500 students, according to School Committee Member Jared Nicholson.
“I think it’s remarkable, and it’s a testament to the city that families see a future here,” said Nicholson, at Thursday’s meeting. “It’s just important for us to note that we’re beginning to see that kind of increase.”
Lynn saw the largest increase in students of any district in the state, and thus received the largest increase in state funding.
The state allocated $199.15 million in Chapter 70 aid to the city’s school district and a $13.3 million increase over funding that Lynn received last year.
“I can’t quite put my finger on why our numbers continue to grow while in other communities numbers continue to dip,” said Tutwiler. “There’s no real rhyme and reason to it.”
The budget includes 30 new positions in the district, including the director of the newly-titled Welcome Center, a role that is meant to be focused on supporting LPS families.
It also allows for the placement of a social worker at each school in the district, the addition of a speech therapist and five PC LAN Tech managers–professionals who will provide direct technology support to students and families, Tutwiler said.
Committee Member Brian Castellanos asked the superintendent about the effects of the shutdown of sports on the budget.
“At the middle schools we are doing some virtual sports,” said Deputy Superintendent Deb Ruggiero. “We’re hoping that if things go well, then maybe in the Spring they can use some of those funds to do something in-person.”
“I wouldn’t call those savings yet,” added Tutwiler. “At a certain point if things don’t happen the way we want them to then those would become savings and we would be coming back to the school committee to discuss how we would leverage those savings.”
The budget was well-received by the committee.
“The fact that we’ve invested in social work, that we’ve invested in mental health and that we’ve invested in technology — I think that those are the right investments,” said Nicholson.
“I feel that we clung to our commitment and values,” said Tutwiler.
School committee members did not vote on the budget at the meeting Thursday, though an official vote is likely coming soon.
“There still needs to be a public hearing, which is coming up,” said Nicholson. “We would typically vote on it after that happens.”
