Olsen Presents Recommended FY '15 School Budget Figure of $51,508,160

Part One of a transcript recapping the Nov. 4 Westford School Committee meeting. For a full video of the meeting, check out the Westford CAT website (approximate times on the video in parentheses)

For the rest of the meeting, please check out our main article.

7:30 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. (0:00:00 to 5:45) The School Committee honored Kate Whitney and Sally Lee being first and second in their class at Westford Academy, School Committee member Margaret Murray hopes there are more recognitions in the future

7:35 p.m. to  7:48 p.m. (05:45 to 18:24) Superintendent Bill Olsen reports that several teachers at the Abbot School received a grant regarding a project called “Breaking the Math Code in Grade 5” provided a Westford Academy athletics update, and discussed other items.

Christine announced the hiring of an interim ELA director and followed up on questions from the last meeting by the board on writing by students. She received questions from the board regarding the public availability of curriculum rubrics as well as changes in curriculums following personnel changes.

Then Olsen discussed an initiative by 2012 Westford Academy graduate Thomas Kolek, who helped participated in a procedure that helped save the life of a little boy.

7:48 p.m. to 7:57 p.m. (18:24 to 27:38)

School Committee members discussed issues such as updating the school department websites and a discussion on full day kindergarten and the department technology plan.

Olsen said that the technology plan is expected to be elaborated upon in early December.

Terry requested for the record that parents volunteer, as staff members will be sending out notices asking for volunteers.  

7:57 p.m. to 8:12 p.m. (27:38 to 42:30)

School Committee chairman David Keele introduced Olsen’s Fiscal Year 2015 (FY’ 15) School Department Budget Recommendation, saying it was the most important role of the committee and saying that the committee would go over the recommendation as many times as needed.

Olsen began his presentation with $51,508,160 which includes a double step that was negotiated with during collective bargaining and compensation reserves.

Town Manager Jodi Ross was pleased with the percent increase of 4.58 percent since it fit into her projections.

Olsen told the board a few budget assumptions including that elementary school enrollment was declining; Westford Academy enrollment is rising and within a few years will be near its capacity of 1,750 students, although the functional capacity is in the low to mid 1600s.

The School Department has obtained $3 million in fees to support operations and it is unclear if fees will remain constant for next year.

Average classroom sizes remain at 22 students per teacher, and the complexity of special education needs continues to increase and the department enjoys meeting the needs of those obligation.

Requirements for students learning English as a second language in the English Language Learner (ELL) program are also increasing, and Olsen said it’s a challenge the department will meet.

Circuit breaker funding, or emergency funding for unexpected special education needs, is expected to remain at 75 percent funded by the state.

Olsen said this budget also provides more flexibility for collective bargaining, saying there is a need to keep teacher salaries as competitive as possible.

8:12 p.m. to 8:19 p.m. (42:30 to 49:53)

Money from circuit breaker reimbursements from the state and School Choice tuitions are higher than expected in order to try and keep funding requests down.

In terms of student projections, Olsen said that former School Committee member George Murray’s enrollment projections no longer include birthrates due to the notoriety of the school system’s quality, leading out-of-district parents requesting to transfer their students into Westford through school choice.

The projected enrollment jumps dramatically in Grade 1 due to parents putting their children in private kindergarten

Enrollment continues to climb until third, fifth, sixth and seventh grade, with a plateau in high school.

The Autism Spectrum program for elementary school students will also be consolidated to whichever school has the most space, and the Abbot School will have additional sections next year.