To: All Norfolk Residents From: Superintendent's Office Dr. Claire Jackson Subject: Norfolk Public Schools Budget Preview Highlights I am writing to you today to inform you of the current budget situation of the Norfolk Public Schools. In order to have a successful public school system, we need the involvement of all Norfolk Residents. This communication is intended to be the start of a new series of communications coming from the Superintendent's Office to keep all Norfolk Residents informed about School District news and budgets. We welcome your input and feedback in our efforts to improve communications between all parties. Following is a preview of the Elementary School Budget, its recent history and proposed direction: Between 2000 and 2005, the schools enjoyed enormous support from the town with budget increases often above 7%. This effort gave the NPS the foundation for its reputation at the time as a high-performing district. In a normal fiscal environment, public schools receive between 5% and 7% increases annually. 5% enables maintenance of effort, 7% enables growth, special projects, investments in curriculum and technology. Over the past five years, the budget has decreased. It was $9.5m in 2006 and is $9.4m now. In this same period since 2005, several things have happened to negatively impact the school budget: The collective bargaining agreement (approximate annual increase: 4.6%) and non-contract salaries (approximate annual increase: 2%) have risen annually. The Town eliminated capital outlay dollars for instructional technology. Special Education costs have risen by $700,000 and now represent 34% of total budget or $3.2m. On average, in similar Pre-K - 6 districts, the percentage of total budget is 22%. The School Department, facing annual deficits, reduced almost every line in the budget that was not personnel. The exceptions were school librarians, Assistant Principals and clerical support - all of which are needed, but were eliminated. As a result of these events, we currently have a $0 budget for instructional hardware and software, $0 for district-wide curriculum development, $0 for district-wide professional development, and nominal amounts for books (app. $5000). (The rule of thumb is a minimum of $125 per student, or in Norfolk, $125,000.) In order to begin to recover, the district needs $1.2 million. This money would be used to re-introduce balance between the two major budget items: teaching personnel and the surrounding support structure. In an effort to maintain optimal class sizes during this budget crisis, the rest of the budget has been stripped bare. Norfolk cannot continue down this path; the schools cannot continue to operate with bare bones support services. The only reason our schools are still performing as well as they are, is because of the excellent teaching staff. Following are some of the items that would be added back to create this balance: Instructional Technology - HW, SW, Training and Data Systems Assistant Principals in both Elementary schools with curriculum coordination among their responsibilities District wide professional development Full-time Teaching Librarian Positions More clerical support The $1.2 million would be funded through the following means: A re-organization of Special Education to reflect current law and best practice, while ensuring that all student's Individual Education Plans can be met without requiring any changes. A reduction in teaching staff, thereby increasing class sizes, approaching 25 students per class Other personnel reductions These reductions will generate approximately $890K, leaving us about $250K short. The possibilities for acquiring the additional $250K include: Getting an unlikely 3-5% increase from the Town Passing an override Eliminating 5 additional classroom teachers, bringing class size upwards to 30 Eliminating portions of the items marked for add-back All of the scenarios described above are either unlikely or undesirable. We are hoping that by communicating the budget details early this year, that residents will have the time to learn about and understand the urgency of the situation and weigh in on possible resolutions before we lose the quality schools we have worked so hard to build. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in the Superintendent's Office at 508-528-1225. Sincerely, Dr. Claire Jackson Norfolknet.com your community, on-line