 Mount Greylock School Committee Amends Budget to Preserve Music InstructionAfter hearing from several teachers at the elementary and high school level who argued against the cut, the six members of the seven-person panel in attendance voted unanimously to restore about $6,000 to the $22.4 million gross operating budget for the three-school, PreK-12 district.  McCandless Asks 5.7 Percent Increase for Pittsfield SchoolsSuperintendent Jason McCandless is asking for a $3.4 million increase to the school's budget. The large 5.7 percent increase comes as Gov. Charlie Baker has proposed a budget that gives the city $3.7 million more in Chapter 70 state aid for schools. The request comes with a number of new initiatives and positions which McCandless said will bolster specific areas the district has identified as problematic areas.  Adams-Cheshire School Committee Approves 2020 BudgetThe Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee voted Monday to certify a fiscal 2020 budget of $20,099,487 that represents a 1.77 percent increase.  Mount Greylock School Committee Prepares Fiscal 2020 BudgetThe Mount Greylock Regional School District budget is tracking to deliver a 2.5 percent increase in its operating budget assessment to the town of Williamstown and a 2.2 percent hike to Lanesborough.  Adams-Cheshire Considers $20M Budget for Fiscal 2020A public hearing on the budget was held last week and the School Committee is expected to vote on the budget next week.  Pittsfield Schools Projecting Surplus But With Areas of ConcernTuition payments are down significantly this year but the savings is being eaten up by other areas of the school budget. Deputy Superintendent Kristin Behnke provided the School Committee with a mid-year budget report on Wednesday. The good news is that the trend appears to a show a surplus at the end of the year, thanks to the tuition savings and other under budget trending lines.  McCann School Committee Endorses $9.6M Budget for Fiscal 2020The committee members had few questions about what Superintendent James Brosnan referred to as "vanilla" fiscal 2020 budget that will increase by $220,769.  North Adams School Committee Approves FY2019 BudgetThe School Committee on Monday approved a $17.7 million budget for fiscal 2019 that is up just under 2 percent from this year. The City Council is expected to approve the school budget Tuesday night as part of the city's overall spending plan for fiscal 2019.  North Adams Superintendent Up for Second EvaluationIn other business last week, the committee appointed Boulger and Chairman and Mayor Thomas Bernard to the Shared Services Subcommittee made up of the Northern Berkshire school districts. The creation of this subcommittee came out of the discussions of possibly sharing a superintendent with the Adams-Cheshire Regional School district.  Cheshire Will Try to Pass Regional School Budget in JulyThe Selectmen have tentatively scheduled a special town meeting on Monday, July 17, to try again to pass the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District budget. Officials met with School committee Chairman Paul Butler on Tuesday night to figure out the next steps in the budget process and with coming deadlines, both they and Butler agreed it would be prudent to have a budget in place sooner than later.  North Adams School Budget Up 2%; Cuts Dozen PositionsThe School Committee will vote next week on a fiscal 2018 budget that's up about 2 percent over this year and includes reductions in positions, including the assistant principal at the high school.  Pittsfield School Officials Approve Further Budget CutsThe proposed school budget has been cut again, raising the number of layoffs to 75.6. However, the teacher's union is foregoing some $300,000 worth of step raises to save some of those jobs. On Wednesday the School Committee adopted a proposed budget of $60,686,338, with the city's share of that being $60,066,338. That is $250,000 less than what was presented at the budget hearing two weeks ago.  Pittsfield Council Asked To Push For State Education Funding ChangesHow the state calculates what it costs to run a school system is much different from what local officials say it actually costs. That was the message delivered to the City Council Tuesday night when the School Committee arranged a presentation from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. MASC Field Director Tracy Novick urged the council to advocate for changes to the state funding formulas to bring more state dollars into the city.  Pittsfield Residents Oppose School Budget Cuts at Public HearingAva Mungin is who children come to when they need help. When they are hungry, they go to Mungin. When they are sick, they come to Mungin. When they want to get off drugs, they come to Mungin.  Lanesborough Budget Deliberations Continue: Capital, Mount Greylockown Manager Paul Sieloff's capital plan for 2018 calls for the purchase of two vehicles. Sieloff said the plan originally called for just the purchase of a new back hoe for the Highway Department but last week the town's grader failed. The 1986 Dresser grader was on the capital plan to be replaced in 2019 at a cost of $260,000 and will now be pushed into the fiscal 2018 year. That is coupled with a $115,000 replacement to the 1997 John Deere backhoe in the Highway Department.  Youth Center, Mount Greylock Budgets Sail Through Williamstown FinCommAt its March 29 meeting, the committee heard from the Williamstown Youth Center, seeking a $73,381 allocation from the town, and the Mount Greylock Regional School District, seeking an allocation of $6,394,541. |
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