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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE REPORT TO 2009 ATM—MARCH 2O09 Warrant Article Analysis and Recommendations Article 4: Appropriate Funds Requested Funding Committee FY2010 Operating Source Recommendation Budget Various Approve(9-0) Description Amount Funding Committee Recommends Requested Source Lexington Public Schools S66,958,293 GF Approve(9-0) Overview The School Committee has approved a school budget of$66,958,293 (a 3.95% increase above the FY2009 school budget) for FY2010. The Superintendent, at the request of the School Committee, had originally prepared a level-service budget for FY2010 offering essentially the same school programs as in FY2009. However, since the level-service budget was higher than the available funds, program and staff cuts were required. The financial crisis was well underway when the budget process began so an override in the spring of 2010 was out of the question. Furthermore, neither the School Committee nor the finance committees supported the use of the Town's Stabilization Fund as a source of funding for the school budget at this time. The School Administration was able to cut costs in a number of different areas. Declining elementary enrollment allowed for the reduction of 2 classroom teachers and 0.4 FTE of music, gym and art specialists. The other major reductions include: reorganizing the Preschool Program at Harrington and the ILP Program at Fiske (see separate section below on Special Education); cutting the equivalent of 10 FTE positions for Instructional Assistants (IA's); decreasing the personnel budget by hiring teachers at an average salary of M-5 vs. M-6, along with other personnel line item refinements; and, eliminating a dedicated private-school bus. Benefit expenses have been significantly reduced by restructuring certain IA positions to under 20-hours/week making them ineligible for benefits, and by combining 14 part-time positions into 7 full-time positions. Enrollment. Projected enrollment changes between FY2009 and FY2010 are as follows: Grades FY2009 Actual FY2010 Change % Change (as of 10/08) Projected K—5 2,699 21623 -76 -2.82 6-8 1,501 1,510 +9 +0.60 9 - 12 1,991 1,980 -11 -0.55 Total 6,191 6,113 -78 -1.26 All of the units at Avalon at Lexington Hills have been completed and are now occupied. Since the number of children living at Avalon enrolled in the Lexington Public Schools has significantly exceeded the threshold stipulated in the agreement between Avalon and the Town of Lexington, the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Business is examining the revenue implications for the Town. Page 11 of 59