Rochester Memorial School officials presented a preliminary budget Thursday for fiscal year 2015, which at this point reflects an increase of $211,529, or about 3.8 percent, over the previous year.

            “There’s a lot more work to be done now,” said Superintendent Douglas White, who said that the budget is based on needs at the school for the upcoming school year.  It takes into consideration what (is current) as well as what’s needed to offer a high quality education.”

            Officials stressed that the budget is a “working document,” and that they’ll continue to work on it in the near future.

            White mentioned the fact that they’re currently trying to attract a new school business administrator, and the committee discussed the situation with the school’s adjustment counselor/social worker.  Currently, there is only one counselor at the school, though the general consensus is that the school and its children could benefit from gaining another.

            “The goal of our student adjustment counselor is to help students overcome the barriers to learning,” said Assistant Principal and former adjustment counselor Charles K. West.  “This is not necessarily a sustainable model as it’s currently working.  There is a concern.”

            Principal Derek Medeiros said that they’d continue to assess the situation with the counselor.

            “I think everything in schools is a work in progress,” said Medeiros.  “At times it can be extremely difficult to do a lot of our preventative activities.  As you all know, the school day brings many challenges.  I would like to say I’d like to take a little more time to (take a look at the situation).”

            At an earlier meeting of the Board of Selectmen, officials expressed concern that the budgets for Rochester schools would outweigh the available finances that the town would have to spend on education.   White and other members of the school committee were adamant about exploring and weighing every option in order to best maximize whatever funds they’re provided with.

            “I think it’s really important for us to focus on the budget we need to create,” said Sharon Hartley of the Committee. “It’s hard to do that because of the distractions that are going on—(there are) changes going on in many of the towns’ budgets.  (There are) major changes at Old Colony.  It’s really hard for any budget to be crystal clear right now.”

            In other news, Board Chair Michelle Cusolito announced that she would not be seeking another term as Chair of the Board, which runs out this year.

By Nick Walecka

With lengthy discussions on both options, only time and further debate will tell what school committee members will decide is more important (and feasible) – smaller class sizes or a new math curriculum.

Chairperson James Higgins opened the discussion, stating that he had Superintendent Doug White craft the draft budget to include two additional teaching positions, one in particular to preempt an anticipated significant increase in second-grade class size next year at Center School.

“However, you can’t always get what you want,” said Higgins. “… The reality of it is we can’t do everything that we want … That’s going to be the genesis of the budget for next year.”

A number of factors placed a strain on the FY15 budget, which is up a total of $533,000 from last year’s, including a major snag in state reimbursement for converting the half-day tuition-based kindergarten into a full-day program. The committee was counting on Chapter 70 reimbursement of over $200,000 to offset the cost, but there was “miscommunication” about Mattapoisett’s eligibility.

“It has a huge impact on the ability to have flexibility on the budget,” said Higgins. With the implementation of the state’s new common core standards, Higgins added, “These updated curriculum items are expensive.”

The math line item shows an increase in $33,000 to cover the cost of a new curriculum, and school committee members must soon decide which curriculum to choose and how to phase it in.

So far, the front runner is Everyday Mathematics, but Center School Principal Rose Bowman admitted that, so far, school administration has only looked into two programs.

“It’s got to be a kindergarten through grade six decision,” Bowman suggested. “It’s got to be a collaboration amongst everybody.”

Dr. Elise Frangos, assistant superintendent, suggested implementing the curriculum at Center School first, starting with kindergarten through grade two, later implementing the program at Old Hammondtown School. She echoed Higgins’ original sentiment later in the meeting, suggesting that, in the end, the budget will dictate which direction the committee goes.

“We need to look at what’s best for the kids,” said White. “That’s the bottom line.”

The regular day budget is up a total of $310, 000 from last year’s budget.

Special Education spending is up $197,000, with most of the increase falling under out-of-district placement. A decrease of $59,000 in SpEd transportation helped offset costs in SpEd spending for the FY15 draft budget.

The draft FY15 budget totals $6,092,176, which would be a 7.71 increase from last year.

In other news, White announced that the Old Hammondtown School was chosen to participate in a food service audit, one of the first in the state.

“We should get some good feedback from that,” said White. All aspects of food service will be inspected – from handling, to what foods are offered, to the financial aspects of it.  The audit is to check for compliance with the relatively new federal guidelines.

Also at the meeting, the committee accepted a donation of a new old piano for the Old Hammondtown School.

By Jean Perry