Schools

Report Finds Watertown Schools Need to Pay Special Attention to Finances, Special Ed

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A consultant hired to review the financial mishaps of the Watertown Public Schools from a couple years ago presented recommendations to improve financial practices and also looked deeply at the special education program – a high cost area for the district. Monday night, the School Committee and Town Council received the report from RSM US. The group interviewed more than 50 people and spent months working on the report, said Craig Finley, the project lead. While there are nearly 30 recommendations (see the report here) to improve what’s being done in the Watertown schools, Finley said in general they are in good shape. “The biggest thing we foundation here is strong support of the schools,” said Finley, who worked in public schools, including as an assistant superintendent in the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District.

Schools

See What School Officials Included in the Budget Request for 2015-16

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Watertown school officials have requested a $2.7 million increase for the 2015-16 school year, which includes more than 20 new jobs, new equipment and bolstering technology in the town’s public schools. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said the budget includes teachers to reduce class sizes at Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools, teachers at the high school to strengthen the computer science and environmental science programs, and an Arabic teacher at the high school. The $41.93 million budget, a 6.87 percent increase from 20141-15, was presented to the School Committee on Monday night. Another area of focus for the budget is student support. This includes adding part-time psychologists at Cunniff and Lowell schools, a part time school adjustment counselor at Watertown Middle School, and two part-time psychologists and a behavioral specialist for the special education program.

Schools

Recommended Watertown School Budget Includes 21 More Staff Members

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The School Committee’s Budget and Finance Subcommittee will submit a budget that would be $2.695 million more than the current school year and would include more than 20 additional teachers and other staff. 

The total budget for Fiscal 2016 (the 2015-16 school year) will be $41.9 million. The Public Hearing on the FY 16 budget will be held at the next School Committee meeting on April 6 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Among the new staff requests are one teach each for Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools. These teachers will help avoid large class sizes, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald.  

Librarians will also be added to Hosmer, Cunniff, and Watertown Middle School.

Around Town

Top Stories of 2014 on Watertown News

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Watertown had its share of news this year, but here are the top stories of 2014. 1. Development – No matter what part of town you live in, a new project was built, approved or proposed. On the west side, Pleasant Street has been hot, and the Town Council and Planning Board have looked at ways to prevent more large residential complexes coming to that area. Arsenal Street looks to be the next big area of development, with plans to renovate Arsenal on the Charles, the approved hotel near the malls, and new projects closer to Watertown Square – including the approved 202-204 Arsenal Street and the proposed Greystar project.

Government

School, Town Discuss Reasons for Last Year’s Budget Freeze

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School and Town officials have been looking into why the school budget got in such bad shape that a spending freeze was put into place, and then why the schools ended up with a budget surplus. The budget appeared so out of balance in January that freezes were made on most purchases, including paper for classrooms. This move was made after Town Auditor Tom Tracy recommended the School Administration do so. Special education costs also came in higher that expected, and on May 20, 2014 Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald reported a $640,000 shortfall. A week later the deficit has been adjusted to $355,000 and by June 2 the “perceived deficit” was gone, according to a report by the Council’s Education and School Systems Matters Committee. In August, the School Department reported a surplus of $770,000.

Government

See How the Schools Used Nearly $1 Million From the Town

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At Monday’s School Committee meeting, Watertown School officials detailed how they used an infusion of nearly $1 million it received from the town budget last spring. The one-time funds were provided as a boost to the curriculum. The money went to upgrade technology and to update curriculum materials, said Assistant Superintendent Dari Donovan. The district received $210,000 from the Fiscal 2014 budget and $750,000 from the Fiscal 2015 budget. Due to tight budgets, curriculum materials have not been updated in some time, Donovan said.

Schools

School Officials Have Plan to Avoid Financial Problems This Year

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Last school year, the Watertown Public Schools had to freeze spending when they had a major mid-year deficit, but they ended up with a large surplus. The Fiscal 2014 budget looked like it could be a major problem for Watertown school officials, who froze spending in January when the school budget ran $926,000 in the red, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. The district turned it around, but officials still appeared to have a major problem in June when they though they needed to make up a shortfall in the special education budget of about $640,000. It turns out the money was not needed. At Monday’s School Committee meeting, Watertown Director of Business Services Charles Kellner said the district ended the year with a $770,00 surplus.

Development

Councilor Warns Building Moratorium Could Impact Town, School Budget

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Residents concerned about the pace and size of development in Watertown have requested a building moratorium on Arsenal Street, but a Town Councilor said stopping the projects could impact the town and school budgets. The town relies heavily on property tax revenues to fund town departments, including the Watertown Public Schools. Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said that new development is one of the keys to increasing the budget. The schools too rely heavily on the town’s appropriation. “The school appropriation increased almost 7 percent (for Fiscal 2015), and how were we able to do that under Proposition 2 1/2, was though new growth through new development in town,” Piccirilli said.