SWAMPSCOTT — During the first night of Annual Town Meeting, the town voted to pass Articles 5 and 6 in order to fund the school department’s operating budget more effectively.
Article 5 (Approve Transfer of Free Cash to Utility) would see if the town would vote to transfer $200,000 from Free Cash to the Utility Reserve line of Swampscott Public Schools’ operating budget. Article 6 (Approve Transfer of Free Cash to the Special Education Reserve Fund) would see if the town would vote to transfer $400,000 from Free Cash to the Special Education Reserve Fund.
Previously, the Select Board received a memo from Director of Finances Amy Sarro, who noted that the healthcare costs increased and caused a deficit of $175,000, which would be shared by the town and the school department. After the Finance Committee initially recommended fully funding the schools, it amended its recommendation to charge the schools $130,000 and the town $45,000 to share the difference.
The amendment to the article did not pass, and the school’s budget was not reduced by an extra $130,000.
Finance Committee member Erik Schneider expanded on the article.
“The new elementary school’s operating costs are higher than the costs to operate the three old elementary schools — but the exact costs of operating the building are unknown,” Schneider said. “Most of these additional operating costs are being covered by the school department’s budget, including by using outside revenue to offset some utility costs.”
Though the school was opened to students in the fall, Schneider said that “many of the building systems were still being calibrated.” As a result, the town does not have 12 months of operational data or billing data — which has made it hard to estimate operating costs.
Schneider continued, “Because the additional utility costs are expected to be largely offset by the solar panels on the roof and the solar canopies, these additional utility costs are expected to be temporary. Therefore, it did not make sense to increase the school budget by temporary additional costs, and use Free Cash to pay for these expenses.”
After the town voted to pass Article 5, Schneider took a second to talk about Article 6.
“The purpose of this fund is to act as an additional buffer to pay for Special Education Costs… The school department can access these funds when its circuit breaker drops below $600,000,” Schneider said. “These funds will allow the school department to address large-scale funding needs.”
He noted those needs could come from outplacement services and other intensive services.
“While the school department expects to end this fiscal year with a positive balance in the reserve fund… Based on current data and projected student needs, additional funding to the reserve fund is needed at this time to maintain a sufficient balance in this reserve fund through the end of next school year,” he said.
Select Board member Danielle Leonard commented on the results of the meeting, where she shared her gratitude for those who voted.
“I am really grateful to the members of Town Meeting, who really voted in support of our amendment to the Finance Committee’s budget,” Leonard said. “I’m really proud the community was able to achieve with hard work, collaboration and a really difficult fiscal environment. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Leonard continued, “We did receive some feedback that the Select Board didn’t take up the budget sooner. We needed to be better about that, and that’s a point well taken… With Katie Phelan and Doug Thompson leading the way, we’ll approach the budget with more foresight. I have full confidence in them.”
School Committee Chair Glenn Paster said he’s excited for what comes next and that he’s grateful the town listened to the school department’s needs.
“I’m very pleased that Town Meeting listened to our point of view. I’m happy that when I asked for a standing count, to win by 30 percent, I think, speaks volumes to what people think of the school department — we did work collegiately with everybody — and made sure everyone was on the same page. We have done the dirty work. I’m excited, it’s time to move on– and I’m grateful to Town Meeting,” Paster said.
