Outreach Figures Big in $747M BPS Budget

By MARIE SZANISZLO

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis yesterday proposed a $747.1 million budget that would add eight more family and community outreach coordinators and 23 new kindergarten classes.

The budget Contompasis presented to the School Committee last night represented an increase of $12.6 million, or 1.7 percent, partly to bring the total number of outreach coordinators to 25.

“To achieve our goal of proficiency for all children, we know that students need support inside and outside of school,” Committee Chairwoman Elizabeth Reilinger said.

The budget also includes $4.1 million for 23 new kindergarten classrooms to serve an additional 500 4-year-olds, bringing the total number of early-childhood classrooms to 100 serving 1,900 students.

The expansion is part of a commitment Mayor Thomas M. Menino made in 2005 to offer free, full-day kindergarten to every 4-year-old in the city. At the time, the district had 38 such classrooms with 750 students.

The budget also includes $2 million to expand support for English language learners, including additional staff, professional development for teachers, new instructional materials and a summer enrichment program.

Contompasis’ proposal would also help pay for the continued expansion of kindergarten-to-grade-8 schools, including the Eliot in the North End, the Jackson/Mann in Allston, the Perry in South Boston, the Harbor and O’Hearn in Dorchester, the Curley in Jamaica Plain and the Kilmer in West Roxbury.

These expansions would bring the number of kindergarten-to-grade- 8 schools to 20 citywide.

A decade ago, there were only three such programs in Boston.

By law, the School Committee is required to vote on a final budget by March 22.

The committee’s recommendation is then submitted to the mayor to be included in the total city budget proposal he will present to the City Council.

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