Superintendent to School Committee - FY 2019 School Budget Memo and Presentation

"I am pleased to present the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 19 Budget on February 27, 2018 at the regular School Committee meeting. This presentation is the culmination of many steps in the development process, beginning with the School Committee’s Budget Workshop on October 10, 2017. I have been working closely with the central office administrators and building principals to consider budgetary needs as we plan for the 2018-2019 school year. I have also been in communication with the Town Administrator as part of the planning process.

The Budget Subcommittee has met several times, including in December with the Town’s Budget Subcommittee. The subcommittee members have been updated about progress along the way and have agreed to the proposed process for budget development. Since the last Budget Subcommittee meeting on February 13, 2018, the central office administrators, building principals, and I met to discuss the “Critical Needs” of the district, a selected few of which are included as additions to a Level Service budget. The recommended actions related to our “Critical Needs” are aligned with the current District Improvement Plan or are consistent with the process I have outlined for developing a new Strategy for Improvement for Franklin Public Schools in the coming months.

The Superintendent’s Recommended Budget proposes an appropriation of $64,390,935, which represents a 6.9% increase over the FY 18 appropriation. When revolving funds of $3,623,985 are considered compared to last years’ revolving fund amount of $6,329,935, the proposed increase in expenses is reduced to 2.18%. This proposal includes a $955,935 budget gap (at this time) yet to be closed. There are some outstanding variables that will impact the school budget, including the town’s actual allocation toward the school budget, the actual rate of increase of health insurance, whether or not there is additional Circuit Breaker revenue expected in a supplemental state budget, and the remaining expenses for FY 18.

From here, I recommend that the School Committee’s Budget Subcommittee begin to work on refining the budget in this iterative process, ultimately bringing forward a proposed budget for public hearing on March 27, 2018 with a proposed School Committee vote on the FY 19 budget on April 10, 2018.

I want to thank and commend Miriam Goodman, our School Business Administrator, for her keen insight, diligence, and attention to detail in preparing the FY 19 budget. In addition to the presentation, we are sharing supporting documentation with you."

Sara E. Ahern, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools



This copy was shared from the Town of Franklin webpage
http://franklinschool.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinCom_Packets/t2-27-2018%20SC%20Packet/Supt%20Rec%20FY%2019%20Budget%20Memo%20for%20Packet%20(1).pdf

The budget presentation document can also be found on the Town of Franklin webpage
http://franklinschool.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinCom_Packets/t2-27-2018%20SC%20Packet/FY%2019%20Superintendent's%20Recommended%20Budget%20(1).pdf

The "supporting documentation" has not yet been made available to the public (updated 3/2/18 - documents uploaded after this post was originally created)

http://franklinschool.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinCom_Packets/t2-27-2018%20SC%20Packet/

FPS FY 2019 Superintendent's Recommended Budget from Franklin Matters

Superintendent to School Committee - FY 2019 School Budget Memo and Presentation