Committee Passes Rochester School Budget

Rochester Fiscal Year 2016 School Budget discussions came to a close on April 2 with the approval of the $5,780,343 budget, a 1.9 percent increase from FY15.

Driving the budget were contractual obligations, increased contracted services, and supplies, but with decreased transportation costs and special education services.

The Rochester Memorial School student population, currently at 487, is projected at 477 for the 2015/2016 school year, although Superintendent Doug White said there are currently several pending building permits that could bring up the student population in time.

But with a budget set for just a $108,000 total increase from last year, White said, “There’s support for us to move forward with this type of increase.”

“This budget represents exactly the number of students, and takes care of exactly the number of students that we have,” said School Committee Chairman Sharon Hartley. She addressed the matter of the building permits for house construction in town saying, “We need to watch that carefully, and we will be watching our class sizes … carefully…”

With that in mind, the School Committee voted to opt out of adding any school choice slots for the next school year to keep class sizes in check.

“I think this budget supports the enrollment of 477,” said White, adding that last year an additional 30 students unexpectedly moved into the district. “I really think your obligation should be the individuals living in this community at this time. The way our structure of our school is,” he continued, “I’d hate to give those slots away.”

Also during the meeting, Library Media Specialist Sandy Sollauer presented the committee with the new library curriculum, which focuses more on the use of computers and technology, digital citizenship, and online research and learning.

“It’s certainly not a quiet space,” said Sollauer. It is a place for creativity, she said, adding that she plans to phase out the Dewey Decimal System and organize books by genre and topic, “so it’s more like a bookstore feel.”

The committee approved the new curriculum. It also approved a new school store at RMS, which is just starting up but showing positive feedback from students and staff.

The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for May 7 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

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