WESTBROOK – The jazz band, middle-school athletics, nurses and guidance counselors were among the programs and positions that school officials said they’d like to continue funding next year.
About 20 classroom teachers are still targeted for elimination in the proposed 2011-12 budget for Westbrook schools.
The School Committee’s Finance Committee deliberated until 1 a.m. Thursday after listening to 21/2 hours of testimony from students, parents and staff.
The committee recommended a $30.9 million budget, which would increase the tax rate by about 2 percent, or 38 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
The committee was considering $3.2 million in cuts to positions and programs to help close a $3.7 million shortfall. Though the committee recommended continuing to fund some of the targeted items, there are “still a significant number” that can be cut, said Finance Committee Chairman Alex Stone.
A complete list of positions and programs that the committee recommended be cut was not available late Thursday afternoon.
About 50 people spoke during the public hearing Wednesday at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, Stone said.
He said he announced at the beginning of the meeting that he would end public testimony at 9 p.m., but he extended it by a half-hour to allow 15 more students to address the board.
It was the second hearing on the budget before the Finance Committee. The first hearing, a week earlier, drew nearly 200 people. Stone said the crowd Wednesday was a similar size.
The School Committee will begin discussing the proposed cuts next Wednesday and is expected to make its recommendation to the City Council on April 27, said Marc Gousse, the district’s interim superintendent.
Gousse said Thursday that the Finance Committee’s recommendation represents “a continuation of a process” and could be very different from the budget that’s eventually adopted, considering that the School Committee, the City Council and residents all have to vote on the budget, too.
“We didn’t get here overnight. We’re not going to get out of it overnight,” Gousse said.
Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at: 791-6364 or at
lbridgers@mainetoday.com
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