Rochester school budget proposal set at $61,461,652: Includes 10 staff reductions
By Liz Markhlevskayalmark@fosters.com
ROCHESTER — School renovations, staff reductions, and an almost level-funded recreation budget were discussed at Tuesday's City Council meeting, as members of the School and Recreation departments presented their proposed budgets to the council.
The proposed School Department budget for next year is $61,461,652, which would be a 2.3-percent increase over this year's budget of $60,022,395.
Hopkins said that in order to meet the tax cap, the School Board during the budget process made about $1.4 million in budget reductions. These reductions included eliminating more than 10 staff positions from the budget.
Some of the costliest increases in next year's budget include about $724,000 more in retirement costs, as well as special education costs related to more students with special needs moving into the district this year.
"We have been in a spending freeze since October," said Hopkins, who said that some students in the special education program had to get education outside the district, due to their needs, and the Rochester School District had to pay for those costs.
Hopkins said that next year, additional students with significant needs will be moving into the district, and any cost savings in next year's budget will likely go toward the special education program, rather than retaining staff positions.
On Tuesday, Hopkins also outlined the proposed the $15,274,038 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for next year.
In bonded projects, the program proposes spending $13.1 million on East Rochester School renovations; $914,000 on Spaulding High School renovations; $806,400 to fix the Middle School roof; $190,000 to fix the McClelland School roof; $80,000 for other roof repairs; and $38,638 to retrofit boilers at the School Street School and Maple Street Magnet School.
Part of the East Rochester renovation proposal is to tear down the portion of the school that has no walls, and build a new addition to the facility.
During the public input session on the budget, several residents, including Fred Leonard, Robert Gates, and Gregg Denobile, asked city officials to think carefully before making a $13.1 million investment into renovating the school.
"This is a major undertaking," said Leonard, who asked the council to consider consolidating elementary schools in the city, and having the public engaged in the process of determining the future of East Rochester School.
"It's an opportunity to reduce costs — to consolidate," said Gates.
As part of Spaulding High School renovations, about $500,000 is suggested to go toward auditorium upgrades, such as fixing the rigging, curtains, lighting, and the stage floor.
The roofing projects suggest replacing the Middle School roof, built in 1992, as well as replace the upper roof and skylight at the McClelland School.
The CIP also proposes spending $145,000 in cash on smaller capital improvement projects.
The City Council on Tuesday also heard a presentation about the Recreation and Arena Department budgets proposed for next year. Department director Chris Bowlen explained that while the recreation and arena functions operate as one department, the department has two different funds.
Combined, the budgets for the Recreation and Arena Department total $1,213,962, which would be an increase of $1,849 over the current year.
The arena fund, which is a self-sustaining enterprise fund, would see a 0.33-percent increase next year, according to Bowlen's proposal. He proposed a $527,196 budget for the operations of the arena for next year, and said that revenues from the arena are expected to pay for all the expenses.
On the recreation side, Bowlen proposed a 0.01- percent increase. The proposed budget is $686,766, which would be an increase of only $96 over the current year.
The presentation of the proposed CIP projects for the Recreation and Arena Department is scheduled for a City Council meeting for June 11.