We would like to begin by thanking our entire school community for everything that has gone into making the current school year a success. When the year began back in August, we were all unsure of how COVID would continue to impact day-to-day operations and exactly what needs students would have as they returned to full time school after a year and half of remote and hybrid education. The needs have been great and we are so fortunate to have dedicated staff and families to help navigate this transition. The year has been a success and it has been a tremendous joy to see staff and students back together in the classroom and at extracurricular activities. Our deep gratitude also goes to the entire Scarborough community for understanding the challenges that the schools faced and supporting the requests that we put forth in the FY22 budget. This year would not have been possible without all of you.
While great strides have been made this year to mitigate the impact COVID has had on students’ academic and social emotional needs, there are still lingering effects that need to be addressed. This is the focus of the FY23 budget. In FY22 federal COVID-relief grant funds (ESSER3) were used to add eight additional classroom teachers to keep class sizes at a manageable level which allowed us to maintain spacing requirements in addition to more personalized attention for students. Recognizing the benefits of smaller class sizes during this time, the FY23 budget maintains four and one-half of those positions using remaining ESSER3 funds. ESSER3 funds will also allow us to add a K-2 guidance counselor and help to support summer academies.
The proposed General Fund budget adds two social workers, one academic support ed tech, and a high school study center ed tech to address additional student needs. There is also an addition of one special education teacher to accommodate increased Special Services referrals during the pandemic. The last two additions to the General Fund budget are a Unified Bocce program at the high school and an increase from part-time to full-time for the athletic secretary position which will allow the school department to take over the scheduling of indoor facilities, previously handled by Community Services.
Beyond added positions and programs, there are a few other key factors driving the school budget increase. The first is something we are all experiencing in our own lives: rising energy and fuel costs. Second, are recently completed and open contracts with several bargaining units. The largest contract that the school department has is with the teachers’ union and that contract is currently in negotiations and set to take effect on July 1. While any potential salary increases are still unknown at this time, the FY23 budget includes funds for increases in order to meet our responsibility to negotiate in good faith and to be competitive in a tight labor market. All recently completed Collective Bargaining Agreements have also seen increases to keep Scarborough competitive and retain much needed staff. Anthem health insurance rates saw a large increase this year after no increase in FY22. The total value of 1 percent change in premiums is roughly $60,000 and the increase this year was 7.9 percent. Lastly, Instructional Technology is experiencing a greater demand for tech support as well as repair and replacement of instructional equipment.
School administrators undertook a rigorous budget review process (as they do every year) that has culminated in a collaborative budget that reflects the long term goals of the district and the immediate needs of students. We hope that you will join us in supporting this budget when you vote on June 14. Please reach out if you have any questions to: boe@scarboroughschools.org
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