NASHUA – Updating curriculum, expanding summer school offerings and access to technology, and adding elementary school teachers are among proposed expenditures in the School District’s fiscal 2014 budget.
Board of Education members got their first look at the proposed budget Wednesday night, reviewing district priorities for the next few years and what it would cost to fund them. What the board did not get, however, was a bottom line.
District administrators are still working to come up with the final total for the proposed operating budget and are expected to finish their presentation at a budget workshop Saturday morning.
Superintendent Mark Conrad said he expects the finalized budget to be up to 2 percent higher than the current year’s $95.5 million operating budget.
Conrad said that number could pose challenges to the city but that further reductions to schools could significantly affect the district’s educational mission.
“We’ve been cutting over time to the point where there are no longer any further areas where we can make reductions, at least in our view, without really cutting to the bone,” he said.
This year’s budget process differs from the district’s work in past years and is based on priorities outlined in the district’s strategic plan.
Those priorities include improving curriculum to align with the Common Core State Standards and support student achievement, better integrating technology into classrooms, and creating a high school enrichment block that would include an advisory period.
The goal of reducing class sizes at the elementary level – discussed at several board meetings this school year – also is reflected in the proposed budget.
The proposal includes the addition of five kindergarten and elementary school teachers, at a cost of about $223,375, to help decrease class sizes at schools where they are highest.
But personnel costs aren’t expected to increase dramatically in response to the additions.![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
↧