Due to 9(c) cuts to the regional transportation reimbursement, cuts are needed in the amount of $305,000. In addition, an unexpected increase in Special Education transportation costs has generated an additional $85,000 in cuts needing to be made in the middle of the school year to balance the budget. In years past, the Excess and Deficiency Account has been able to support decreases of this nature, but our E/D account is not healthy enough to do so this year.

That said, the school committee voted on December 15, 2009 to approve close to $218,000 in cuts which will take place upon the return of the Holiday Break. Thanks to efforts on the part of the teachers' association, concessions were made to save cuts to three elementary classroom teachers and a music teacher at both the middle and high school. These 5 positions will NOT be cut.

Over the course of the meeting on December 9th and the follow up meeting on December 15th there were discussions about what has already been cut for the FY10 year as well as concessions that other employee groups across the district have made. Please click on the links below to see the documents which detail answers to those questions:

1. Q & A Document - Answers to the most consistently asked questions through this process.

2. FY10 Cuts to Date - Cuts made as part of the FY10 budget process PRIOR to the start of the fiscal year.

3. New Cuts - Cuts approved by the School Committee on December 15, 2009 by a vote of 7 to 2.

Please contact Brian Forget with questions about the information.

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Overview:

Coming into the FY10 Budget process, the Triton Regional School District is building on two years of restoring positions cut in the 2006.2007 school year. Due to the drastic changes in the economy, there is a clear understanding and respect for the towns and the positions they are facing in regards to their local revenues as well as state aid.

In that light, we are beginning the budget process differently this year, beginning with an open dialogue in a workshop model to facilitate discussion between the Triton Regional School Committee, the Administration, and the Town Officials from the three member communities. Initially scheduled for January 28th but cancelled due to weather, this meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 4th in the High School Library at7:00 p.m. The goal of the workshop is to have the Triton Committee and Administration clearly understand what the member communities will be able to support. Likewise, with potential reduction in funding looming, the towns need to be aware of what those cuts would mean in regards to programming and service levels within the Triton Regional School District. 

BUDGET PRESENTATION:

UPDATE: 7/22/2009:

The FY10 State Budget was adopted into law on Monday, June 29, 2009. Along with the uncertainty caused by the delay in the finalization of the budget, there were also reductions in Chapter 70 Aid and Regional Transportation revenues to the district in the amount of $449,923.00.  The final Triton Regional School District Budget voted on March 25, 2009 by the Triton Regional School Committee and approved at all three town meetings in April/May, 2009, was based on revenue figures as of that date.  In addition, there were unexpected changes to all three communities’ minimum local contributions as a result of the state’s adjustment of the inflationary rate used in the budget calculations for the final budget revisions. To amend the TRSD’s FY10 Budget would require the approval of all three member communities of the Triton Regional School District by Town Meeting. Because Newbury would receive an increase in its assessment, it is a safe assumption that this change would not pass in a special town meeting. The result of this would be defaulting back to the budget approved on March 25, 2009.

With this in mind, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued an advisory which recommends that districts hold off on attempting an amendment, as it would be a very rare and highly unlikely situation where a town would agree to increase its assessment this late in the process. Taking this advice, the Triton Regional School Committee voted on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 to not make any modifications to the budget, and will offset the decrease of $449,923 in revenues with an additional $449,923 in staff/programming cuts. This action, by the TRSD School Committee, avoided the need for the towns to mutually agree to violate of the Regional Agreement.

UPDATE: 3/25/2009:

On March 25, 2009, the administration presented a final budget that was an amalgam of the previously presented scenarios. This budget was briefly discussed. Following the discussion, the committee voted unanimously to approve the FY10 budget with the following totals:

The above total expenditures resulted in net assessments to the member communities as set forth below:

Available Downloads:

Approved Budget Summary with a detailed list of cuts resulting from the budget.

The full document of the FY10 Approved Budget 

Beginning with Scenario #1 as a foundation, the scenarios build by restoring additional cuts that were cut in previous budgets. Along with those restorations, because the revenues have not changed, each step in scenarios increases the assessments to the member communities.

At the end of the meeting, there was no conclusion as to which budget would be supported. The administration will take the feedback received and present a budget that balances district needs with town realities.

To download all four scenarios, click HERE.

A final vote will be taken on the budget next Wednesday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. in the Newbury Elementary School Cafeteria! Please note the changed location.

UPDATE: 3/18/2009:

On March 18, 2009, the administration presented 4 different scenarios for the School Committee to consider. Scenario #1 was the budget presented on February 11th and represented the greatest amount of cuts. Scenario #4 was the budget presented and tentatively approved on March 4th containing the smallest amount of cuts to services. Scenario #2 and Scenario #3 were variations of those two budgets.

Beginning with Scenario #1 as a foundation, the scenarios build by restoring additional cuts that were cut in previous budgets. Along with those restorations, because the revenues have not changed, each step in scenarios increases the assessments to the member communities.

At the end of the meeting, there was no conclusion as to which budget would be supported. The administration will take the feedback received and present a budget that balances district needs with town realities.

To download all four scenarios, click HERE.

A final vote will be taken on the budget next Wednesday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. in the Newbury Elementary School Cafeteria! Please note the changed location.

UPDATE: 3/04/2009:

On March 4, 2009, the administration presented a budget in the amount of $38,458,730 which restored 13 classroom teachers that were cut in the Initial Budget presented on February 11th. This increase increases assessments to the local communities. For a full detailed budget, click here. For a single page listing of the positions restored to the budget, click here.

At the end of the meeting, the School Committee voted to Tentatively approve this budget as presented to the School Committee.

INITIAL: 2/11/2009:

On February 11, 2009, the Triton Administrative Team presented a budget that represents $2,172,781 below a level services budget. The spending represents a decrease from level spending of $576,954 or 1.65%.

The budget presented requires a net assessment to the three member communities of $300,000, although there are varying assessments; Newbury saw an increase while Rowley and Salisbury saw a decrease. This is due to changing enrollments and updated fiscal data used in the State's contribution formula. For detailed information, please see pages 3 through 5 of the budget document.

The cuts that total the $2,172,781 are contained in the budget document on pages 7 through 10. Click to download just the list of cuts or the full budget document.

View the PowerPoint Presentation from the meeting.