03/07/2019 FINANCE COMMITTEE Minutes

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3 Finance Committee Minutes March 7, 2019 APPOINTMENTS & HEARINGS School Superintendent—FY2020 Budget: (continued) The proposed$22,176,919 level-service budget is comprised of$18,096,416 in salaries. Proposed operational expenses; $4,847,502 have been reduced by $228,135 to bring forth a revised operational expense budget of$4,619,368 in the fiscal year 2020 budget by identify the following reductions; Curriculum Revision(reduced from $200,000) $100,000 CIP Technology, Chromebooks, Interactive Board Systems, Teacher PC's $117,000 Reduction in Out-of-District Tuitions $ 11,135 With respect to the curriculum revision reduction, Ms. DeBoer indicated there was an adjustment in the literacy program in FY20 to be phased into the following fiscal year. Overall, the FY20 School budget is reflective of a 3.7% increase over last year. Personnel salaries and wages represent 80% of the budget. In comparison to the previous fiscal year, the salary/wage increase was 81% of the school budget. The School Department is currently negotiating with Unit C Secretaries and Paraprofessionals. Unit A &Unit B contracts are settled. The increase in FY20 system-wide salaries is 2.7% or $476,106. In the negotiating process and for budgetary purposes, the School Department acknowledges the patterns of other Cape communities, and highly considers budgetary constraints while maintaining the most favorable interests of the Town of Mashpee. Transportation costs have risen by 5.8%. The increase is nearly level with comparable towns. A vehicle replacement program is planned to rotate the lease program; 4 buses per year on a 7-year cycle. Enrollment overall is slightly decreasing. This is an observation all Cape Superintendents are experiencing. Several factors include competition with other schools such as the Sturgis Charter School and the Cape Cod Regional Technical School. With declining enrollment, budgetary increases are required to maintain classroom experiences, structure and needs that differ considerably today in comparison to past practices with respect to the education of students. A thriving school district is the heart of the community, and the schools do their best, to make it the experience the best in terms of education. Currently Mashpee students are testing well, and rank in the top tier of the Cape in terms of math and reading scores. Mashpee is comparable or above average with other like communities in the state. Grade 10 scored proficient and advanced in MCAT testing. A new next generation MCAT is being presented to students in grades 3-8. As a result,there is no comparable data available at this time.