SWAMPSCOTT — The School Committee voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed district budget of $32,600,554 for fiscal year 2025 at their meeting Thursday night.
Committee Vice Chair John Giantis and member Glenn Paster voted against the motion, while member Amy O’Connor broke the deadlock by voting in favor “begrudgingly,” as she wished it was higher.
Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis and Assistant Superintendent of Finance Operations Cheryl Herrick-Stella once again reviewed the budget with the committee and the public before the vote was cast. The sole difference between last week’s review and Thursday’s final draft was an additional $155,000 to fund the district’s reading interventionist and “after dark” programs. With that addition, the increase from FY24 to FY25 is now 5.1%.
The Committee’s main frustrations were based on their desire to receive additional financial support from the town.
“It’s not ideal. We’re not even meeting all of our goals. This is a workable number,” member Carin Marshall said. “Should ‘workable’ be what we’re aiming for?”
Paster expressed that he feels they are not funding enough overall.
“I do get very concerned that we’re not funding to what we need to fund,” Paster said. “I think this budget is okay… it certainly could be better, and I guess certainly could be worse. It’s okay.”
In addition to voting for the overall budget, the Committee also voted for each of the five individual cost centers. O’Connor said that she felt it important to vote on each cost center individually to highlight where the budget growth lies. The Administrative and School Facility and Districtwide Cost Centers were passed unanimously, while the Special Education and General Education Cost Centers passed 4-1, with Paster and O’Connor voting not in favor, respectively. The Special Education Cost Center makes up $10,696,384 of the district’s FY25 budget, and General Education accounts for $15,835,633.
