Minutes
Quincy School Committee
Budget & Finance Subcommittee Meeting - May 13, 2019
A meeting of the Budget & Finance Subcommittee was held on Monday, May 13, 2019 at 6:00 pm in the Coddington Building. Present were Mr. Anthony Andronico, Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mr. James DeAmicis, Mr. Douglas Gutro, Mrs. Emily Lebo, and Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Chair. Also attending were Superintendent DeCristofaro, Deputy Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Dr. Beth Hallett, Mr. James Mullaney, Ms. Maura Papile, Ms. Erin Perkins, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.
Dr. DeCristofaro reviewed that the increased funding from Mayor Koch and the Quincy City Council will allow for incremental increases in academic program areas and maintain the favorable class sizes that are a priority for the School Committee.
Mr. Mullaney shared the draft FY2020 Budget Book with School Committee and highlights of the budget: the proposed budget is $115,409, 569.00, the majority of which is provided by the City of Quincy through the Mayor’s Appropriation of $110,209,569 and projected Circuit Breaker Funding of $5,200,000 for Special Education tuitions. Within this level-service funded budget, there is approximately $1,950,533 available for additional budget enhancements.
For Academic Program teachers, the proposal is to add 1.5 elementary Academic Classroom Teachers to address class size, these may be .5 skills support and/or full-time teachers. For Academic Programs, the proposal is to add an 0.5 Art Teacher, a 1.0 EL teacher, 0.5 High School Choral Music Teacher, 0.5 CTE teachers, 4.0 Special Education teachers, and increased funding for Quincy Evening High School to replace grant funding that is no longer available to Quincy Public Schools. In Academic Support, the recommendation is to add 1.0 Guidance staff, 2.0 School Nurse positions and 1.0 Homeless Coordinator (previously grant-funded positions), 1.0 Assessment Coordinator (new position), 3.5 Central Registration aides, 21 Special Education Aides, and increased funding for EL Translation and Tutors, Extracurricular Activities for High School, and Special Education tutors.
In Non-Academic Support, an additional Custodial position would be hired for South~West Middle School. Subsidized Services will be presented in detail at the May 15, 2019 School Committee meeting, with mandated increases needed for Food Services meal prices and recommendation for retaining the existing rates for Athletics, Building Rentals, and Transportation. Academic Expenses would have increases in the funding for the Quincy Historical Society, Special Education Translation services, Library Books & Periodicals, Supplies for Middle School Tech/Engineering, and Special Education equipment. For Non-Academic Expenses, funding would be increased for Special Education transportation. In addition, Mayor Koch will be looking to purchase three new buses through the Capital Improvement Plan.
In summary, of the budget funding increases, 4% will be for Academic Classroom Teachers, 22% for Academic Programs, 50% for Academic Support, 2% for Non-Academic Support, 7% for Academic Expenses, and 15% for Non-Academic Expenses.
Mrs. Lebo is happy to see the increase on the Quincy Historical Society, the budget allows for us to move out to the outer edges of the budget priorities chart. Mrs. Lebo asked for a per pupil cost for this year and the new budget year. Mr. Mullaney will follow up, noting that the City is carries the costs for staff benefits and that is factored in.
Mrs. Hubley asked for the increase in Quincy Historical Society, in FY2019, the line item was $6,800, it will now be $25,000.
Mr. Gutro thanked the Mayor for the additional funds over and above the contractual obligations. Mr. Gutro said this budget reflects the parent concerns raised at Open Forum.
Mr. Andronico thanked the Superintendent and Leadership Team for the responsiveness to parent and community concerns and especially the investment in Special Education.
Mr. Bregoli asked about the grant that funded the school nurses, was the grant for a specific site. Mr. Mullaney said this was not for a particular school, just two of the total number of positions. This appropriation makes these positions a permanent part of the Quincy Public Schools budget, along with the Homelessness Coordinator and the Quincy Evening High School program.
Mr. Bregoli made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 pm.