• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Budget Cuts Spare Student Programs in Portsmouth

Posted on: Friday, 2 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By STEVE PEOPLES Journal Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH - The School Committee has cut $245,000 from its current operating budget without wiping out any major student programs.

Responding to a Town Council mandate to cut the school budget in lieu of a major deficit, the School Committee Tuesday night had little choice but to make the cuts. Last month, the committee approved a first-round of reductions totaling $380,000.

Preceding Tuesday's meeting, there were fears that some school athletic programs would be slashed. They were not, but Schools Supt. Susan Lusi said the schools are now operating on a bare-bones budget.

"Basically, if anything further happens that does not fall in our favor, such as getting an additional student or students in special ed, or having a really bad winter, or anything else, we really have no where to go," Lusi said. "So, I am recommending that we get very clear on what the timeline is for spring athletics and we need to look at whether we can offer them. I have every hope we can, but if any other unexpected expenses occur, we have nowhere else to go."

Topping the latest round of cuts is the School Committee's decision to close the middle school and all elementary schools at 6 each night. The move saves $30,000 -- largely in custodial fees -- but forces community groups out of school buildings.

Community athletic programs, the community choir, and organizations like the Boy Scouts, will have to pay an undetermined fee to use the buildings in the future.

The School Department also saved more than $50,000 by eliminating a professional development day for its teachers, a cut that Lusi said may have been the hardest to make.

"Professional development is the engine for improving instruction," she said.

The committee also accepted an early retirement plan for Middle School principal Stephen Desposito, who had spent more than 30 years working in the Portsmouth system, the last eight as the middle school principal.

According to the plan, Desposito will officially retire at the end of this month. But he will return immediately, working the rest of the year at a per diem rate, a move that will save the School Department an additional $30,000.

The committee also eliminated custodial overtime (saving $25,000) and re-negotiated its transportation contract (saving $100,000).

School officials in October projected a $1.3-million budget deficit for the current fiscal year, citing internal budgetary problems and chronic underfunding from the town.

The School Committee had reduced the deficit to roughly $800,000 with a first round of cuts, which included eliminating bus monitors from middle school buses and cutting budgets for school supplies and text books.

The Town Council last month month voted to cover all but $200,000 of the School Department's remaining deficit.

"I don't want to close the schools at 6 and I don't want to cut professional development," Lusi said. "We tried hard to do everything we could to preserve student programs."

To contact staff writer Steve Peoples, phone (401) 277-7459 or e- mail SPeoples@projo.com

Source: Providence Journal

More News in this Category