LYNN — The Lynn School Committee unanimously approved the school district’s $169.8 million fiscal year 2021 budget Thursday night.
The budget, which represents a $10.5 million increase over last year’s spending, was approved six months into the fiscal year due to the funding uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ultimately, the Lynn Public Schools benefited from a larger than anticipated increase in state aid, which enabled it to direct funding toward addressing certain district priorities, such as increased staffing in mental health, special education and technology departments.
The $45.9 billion state budget, signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last month, allocates $199.15 million in Chapter 70, or state aid, to Lynn, which represents a $13.3 million increase over FY20 funding and is the largest uptick in Massachusetts.
School administrators have attributed the significant uptick in state funding to increased enrollment. Since Lynn saw the largest increase in students of any district in the state, it received the largest aid increase.
As the budget was discussed at length during the School Committee’s last meeting, on Jan. 7, the document was approved without any discussion from the board on Thursday. A public hearing held before the vote also solicited no feedback from the community.
“I think it shows forward movement on our strategic objectives,” said Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler about the budget at the Jan. 7 meeting. “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, (and) improvements in innovation in instruction,” he said.
The FY21 budget includes funding for 30 new direct-service positions, or professionals who will directly impact students and families. Those positions include the director of the newly-titled Welcome Center, and five professionals who will provide direct technology support to students and families, according to a budget summary prepared by Tutwiler.
In addition, the budget allows for the placement of a social worker at every school in the district and the addition of a speech therapist, positions that will be focused on social and emotional learning and special education respectively, according to the budget summary.
“While the development of the FY21 budget happened at a time, and in ways perhaps never before, it still reflects deep alignment with the district core values, mission and vision,” said Tutwiler in his budget summary.
