Happy New Year to All!!
The Committee kicked off 2015 with a special meeting last
night to begin discussion around the financial aspects of both City of Melrose and Melrose Public Schools' revenues and spending. 2014 Finance Subcommittee leadership Carrie Kourkoumelis and Jessica
Dugan brought forward their FY16 Budget Guidelines and Priorities document,
designed to provide a framework for budget discussions for the Committee and
the community. Following that review, Melrose Chief Financial Officer Patrick
Dello Russo and MPS Director of Finance and Administration Jay Picone presented
a Powerpoint overview that provided historical context to our financial
situation and explained the kinds of challenges we will have in the future. Concluding the
evening, Supt. Taymore offered her Budget Message for FY16.
My take-aways:
· * Due to the loss of ARRA funding during the
economic downturn in 2009-2010 and without the promised return of state and
federal revenues that were predicted to compensate for the end of ARRA funding,
Melrose has lost millions of dollars in revenue over the past five years. Other funding (grants, etc.) has also declined while expenses have increased.
· * The City and School Dept. have worked very hard
to creatively finance the schools in order to create efficiencies while
improving the effectiveness of educating students, but with the vast majority
of efficiencies implemented, the essential question the Supt. asks in FY16 is
“What additional resources do we need as a district so that we can continue to
grow and achieve the highly effective school district our students deserve and
we desire?”
· * We will need to discuss and determine whether we
want what the Supt. calls a “status-quo plus” budget, or a “growth” budget. The Supt. will present the district’s draft FY16
budget on 2/24/15, and between that time and April, the Committee will discuss
and debate programming, staffing, materials, our vision for the future, etc.
If you have a few minutes, please read through the documents
from the 1/6/15 meeting (find them here: http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1603&Inline=True); they are enlightening and interesting. What would you
like to know about the budget? What would you like to see funded? How would you
like education to evolve over the next several years for Melrose students?
Thank you in advance for being a part of the conversation, and wishing you and your families all the best in the coming year!!
