SAU 18 Superintendent Daniel Legallo acknowledged a grim reality Monday night: the 2016-17 Franklin school district budget is currently “frozen.”
“I think you all know we were hit with a $115,000 loss in adequacy aid,” Legallo said, referring to the Department of Education’s October announcement. “At this point, there aren’t a lot of lines that have a lot of money left in them.”
The only one he could think of was maybe health insurance.
“The question is,” he added, “what we want to do moving forward. How are we going to handle this?”
School board member Deb Brown suggested discussing the topic at the joint finance committee’s meeting, which is tonight at 6.
“To see how the city side can help us with the shortfall,” Brown said. “We can’t keep cutting the teachers and the programs and the supplies.”
The committee was formed this fall after school and city officials met in a series of meetings over the summer to address an almost $1 million shortfall in the Franklin school district budget.
The gap was created by $500,000 extra in collective bargaining agreements, insurance and retirement costs, plus a loss in $100,000 from tuitioned students, $128,000 less in food services income, and a $283,000 reduction in state adequacy aid announced last spring.
In addition to this fall’s second reduction in the 2016-17 state adequacy aid, Brown said that a boiler in Franklin Middle School broke down recently, creating an unexpected $15,000 expense.
“We’re really looking at a $130,000 reduction in our budget,” she said.
The budget is technically frozen, but Legallo acknowledged that emergencies and necessities would be addressed. The board, for instance, voted to accept the resignation of the middle school nurse Monday night. That position will have to be filled.
“I don’t think we can, legally, go with out it,” Legallo said. “I think we need to keep moving forward.”
Though the Franklin school board is facing another budget challenge – likely to continue into the 2017-18 budgeting process – it did acknowledge some of the good things coming its way.
Legallo started the meeting by noting that even though 25 pink slips were handed out last spring due to the budget gap – 22 teachers and three support staff were laid off – 15 of those positions managed to be preserved for the 2016-17 year.
These include guidance; Spanish; social studies; math; English; Virtual Learning Academy positions at Franklin High School; fourth-, fifth-, seventh- and eighth-grade and computer positions at Franklin Middle School; and first- and second-grade positions at Paul Smith Elementary School.
This was accomplished, Legallo said, “by working collaboratively with the city council.”
The school board announced several more “good news” items, including a $2,300 grant from the Tilton Wal-Mart for school supplies lobbied for by school board member Tim Dow.
He approached human resources officer Stacey Collins, he said, once the budget process eliminated funds for supplies.
“They’re big in community support,” he said.
Legallo said Hope Community Chapel and Franklin Savings Bank collected school supplies to help the district, too, thanks to efforts by school board member Marisa Carter and her husband.
“They came in with truckloads of supplies to the SAU,” Legallo said.
School board student representative Julie Greenwood said the district got $900 more dollars thanks to the city’s mayor.
Mayor Ken Merrifield, along with his band, the Night Rider, put on a concert fundraiser Oct. 8 to help the Franklin music program.
To gain some funds back for food service, Brenda Petelle, the SAU food service director, asked if diet soda could be replaced in the Franklin High School cafeteria vending machines.
“We just took it out for a year . . . and it dropped five grand,” she said.
School board chairman Greg Husband suggested Petelle get quotes from Coke and Pepsi for the cheapest contract, while member Lisa Tremblay suggested trying a different route.
“Have we looked at other thing kids might drink?” she asked. Soda, Tremblay said, leads to rotted teeth, obesity and other nutrition issues already present in the community.
She added that a place like New Hampshire Distributors sells healthier, teen-friendly options, too.
Petelle said the bottom line was business outcomes, but she also liked the sound of the alternative distributor.
“That’s great,” she said.
As part of the district’s overall efforts to “think outside the box” for future financial challenges, Franklin High School Principal Carrie Charette reported to the school board that she’s been working on “opening doors” for collaborating with Winnisquam Regional High School.
“They have a need for wood shop courses,” Charette said. She said the drama program at Franklin is attractive for students, too, and in exchange, Franklin needs Advanced Placement courses.
Greenwood, the student representative and a junior at Franklin High School, underscored this.
“I know as a student it’s really upsetting because we need more AP classes,” she said. “I need some – I don’t have any for next year.”