School Committee Presents Initial Budget

In order to maintain level services, the Foxborough School District will need $28,100,733 for the 2012-2013 school year. That's an increase of 2.7 percent over the current year's budget, or $740,986.

Foxborough Public Schools Business Administrator Paul Jackson presented the district's preliminary budget during Monday night's school committee meeting at Foxborough High School.

"With this budget, it maintains the current staffing, classroom sizes, and level-funds supplies and materials," said Debra Spinelli, school district superintendent. Though the funds for materials remains the same, the district's purchasing power has decreased due to the increase in costs, Spinelli said.

"There is also one projected retirement, and no projected resignations," she said.

There is a savings of $140,000 because two special-needs students who were being transported out-of-district are now attending Foxborough public schools. The budget reflects an addition of 1.8 staff members, which doesn't translate into actual people, Spinelli said.

"We had to meet the needs of those students coming back and had to do service shifting," she said.

A personal teacher who was working only part-time with a student, may now be needed full-time. The savings with the return of the two students, however, doesn't dent the budget, Jackson said, because another student was just placed out-of-district. Daily costs to transport a student exceed $300,000 a year, which highlights the necessity to make it possible for all Foxborough children to attend their local schools, Spinelli said.

The new budget also reflects the negotiated raises for personnel, which received a 0-percent increase this year. The final budget figures will be determined at the Foxborough Town Hall meeting.