JAY – School and Budget committee members voted Thursday to recommend to voters a $10.5 million school-spending plan for 2005-06. The panels also recommended reallocating existing funds for reserves or special projects to lessen the impact on taxpayers in the future.
The total package represents a decrease of $101,692, or 1 percent less than the existing $10.6 million school operating budget. However, Jay taxpayers would raise about $560,000 less, if approved, than they did to support the existing budget.
Residents will have a chance to ask questions at an informational meeting on the combined $16 million school and municipal budget at 6 p.m. Monday at the Middle School cafeteria. A public hearing on the proposal would be held later, before the package goes to voters in late April.
Before the panels voted on each of the 19 articles, Budget Committee member April Hartford said she planned to vote on the dollar amounts in the articles and not on personnel.
A technology plan that was initially proposed would have cut back on two computer teachers and put more of the computer instruction on other teachers. Technology Committee members offered a counter proposal that wouldn’t have cut staff, but which reconfigured some duties and would have supported classroom teachers and maintaining computers.
Either proposal could be supported under the proposed budget, Superintendent Robert Wall said Thursday.
Approval of an updated technology plan was postponed to another School Committee meeting.
The articles dealing with actual funding of the budget and an explanation for each one required by state law were lengthy.
Those articles received unanimous “yes” recommendations from both committees.
The School Committee unanimously passed all articles on the warrant.
When it came to setting up reserve accounts and transferring existing money to those accounts, there was some opposition at the Budget Committee level.
The Budget Committee voted 7-1, with Barbara Cook opposing, to authorize the School Committee to spend $88,250 from the elevator reserve to install a fire alarm system at Jay High School and to end the elevator use account.
Tom Fortier and Cook also opposed: Creating a School Department curriculum development reserve, transferring $10,000 from the fiscal year 2005 unexpended balance to the Curriculum Development reserve, creating a School Department technology reserve, and transferring $10,000 from the general fund to the technology reserve.
The panel did approve setting up an insurance reserve account and transferring $98,000 from the existing budget’s unexpended funds to it. They also approved creating a retirement reserve and transferring $40,000 from the unexpended salary appropriations from the current year.
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