Government

State Rep. Hecht Hopeful About Getting More Special Ed Funds

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Watertown’s state representatives have been working to add more money to help the Watertown Public Schools deal with spiking special education costs, and State Rep. Jonathan Hecht said he is hopeful of getting some additional money. The cost came in more than $650,000 above the budgeted level, and funds had to be diverted from those intended for the regular education budget. The School Committee has requested extra funds from the town for Fiscal 2015 to bring the base up to the level of the current year (Fiscal 2014). The House budget includes a bill that would create a fund of $250,000 for school districts that have higher than average high-cost, out-of-district special education costs. Those programs are for students who have special needs that cannot be served in the Watertown schools, and in some cases cost $100,000, $200,000 or more, according to Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald.

Government

Night Teacher Conferences Could be Lost if School Cuts are Necessary

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The School Committee has asked for $1 million to be added to the $2.26 million increase proposed by Town Manager Michael Driscoll, but if that is not approved Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said savings will have to be found. No decisions for how to cut the budget have been finalized, but when asked during a recent School Committee meeting, Fitzgerald said some non-teaching open positions would likely have to remain open, other items would have to be done without, and savings in salary would have to be made. One possibility, she said, is doing away with evening parent-teacher conferences. That would save $20,000 because is paid to teachers for having to work at night. “We would still have conferences,” Fitzgerald said.

Government

Watertown State Reps Pushing for Extra Special Education Funds

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{See the latest on this subject by clicking here.}

With Watertown facing higher than expected special education costs during the 2013-14 school year, the town’s State House delegation is asking for extra dollars from the state. State Rep. John Lawn said he is trying to get more money from the state budget, and have asked for $250,000 on the House side. “Jon Hecht and I are working on special education. Our costs are higher than other communities,” Lawn said. Meanwhile, State Sen. Will Brownsberger has requested an additional $100,000 in the Senate budget for a total of $350,000.

Government

Extra $1 Million Could Mean Reducing Class Sizes in Watertown Schools

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The School Committee will request an additional $1 million in funding from the town to cover special education costs and hire teachers to reduce class sizes. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said the schools need $653,000 to raise the funds for special education in Fiscal 2015 up to the amount spent this year in Fiscal 2014. The money is needed along with the $750,000 the Town Council has approved for the Special Education Stabilization Fund. “We need the additional $653,000 to get to the base, and then if we go above that we can go to the stabilization fund because we will be in extraordinary times,” Fitzgerald said. “If we don’t do that, then we are already in extraordinary times.”

Government

Child Sex Abuse Law Pushed by Local Reps Moves Closer to Approval

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After years of pushing for a child sex abuse law, a bill on Beacon Hill has moved closer to being passed than ever thanks in part to the work of two local legislators. The law would extend the statue of limitations for civil law suits to be filed by victims of child abuse. Last week, the House gave initial approval of the bill that came out of the Committee on the Judiciary, which is co-chaired by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, D – Belmont, (who represents Watertown). Brownsberger has been a champion of the bill in the senate. On the House side, State Rep. John Lawn, D – Watertown, has worked hard on the bill.

Government

Schools Make Budget Case, Councilors Want More Info

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Tuesday night Watertown School officials made their case for the major increase in their school budget to the Town Council, but Councilors had concerns and questions about the schools’ request. After making some adjustments to the request, the Watertown Public School asked for a $5.8 million in Fiscal 2015 over the current year, or just under a 16 percent hike. On April 29 when Town Manager Michael Driscoll first presented the budget their figure was $6.1 million or 16.87 percent more than Fiscal 2014. This is the amount of money needed to return the Watertown Schools to the point where they were before the Recession sapped the schools of funding, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. On Tuesday, Driscoll again presented his proposed budget which would give an increase of the town appropriation of $2.2 million or 6.18 percent.

Government

New Approach to Making Budget Needed to Add Staffing

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As the Town Council reviews the budget during the Fiscal 2015 budget hearings they often lamented that they do not have the funds to boost staffing for multiple departments. To actually add, a new approach to budgeting is needed, Town Council President Mark Sideris said. One department that several Councilors pointed to as being in critical need for more staff is the Community Development and Planning Department. Development in Watertown is booming, and the town is also working on the Comprehensive Plan, a huge document that will help shape what Watertown looks like in the future. Councilor Cecilia Lenk said she would like to see a staff member th help coordinate public transportation for the new developments.

Government

LETTER: Watertown’s Retirement Savings is Misleading

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Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to your article on the May 27 budget hearing in the hope of clarifying issues surrounding Watertown’s pension funding decisions. [Click here to read the article.]

The article reports the misleading claim, made by the Town Manager in the April 29 budget presentation document and again during the May 27 budget presentation, that moving the end-date for eliminating our unfunded pension liability from 2022 to 2019 will save the Town $32 million. This inaccurate claim leads to the false and damaging impression that the pension appropriations for FY2015 and subsequent years cannot be reduced because doing so would eliminate substantial savings. To the contrary, in order to realize $5 million savings by 2022 (not $32 million!), by 2019 the Town must make $10 million more in contributions than had been previously scheduled through 2019. Before addressing arcane aspects of pension funding, we need to ask: Why is this important to Town residents?