Mount Greylock's Draft 2017 Budget Up 4%By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
09:07PM / Sunday, February 28, 2016 | |
 The Mount Greylock School Committee reviewed the draft 2017 school budget on Thursday. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday discussed an evolving fiscal 2017 budget.
As presented by Superintendent Douglas Dias and Principal Mary MacDonald, the budget includes a 3.91 percent increase over FY16, from $10.6 million to just less than $11 million.
Much of the increase is attributable to a 14 percent hike in the cost of health insurance that is rippling through municipal and school budgets around the area.
At Mount Greylock, officials are projecting FY17 spending that includes two fewer teaching positions. One retiring teacher will not be replaced. Another will be subjected to a reduction in force.
"These two eliminations are on top of five positions cut last year as well as the English and biology positions not replaced in FY15," MacDonald told the committee.
MacDonald said she anticipates being able to cover the affected classes by reassigning teachers, a strategy the school has used in past years. But she indicated that model is not sustainable indefinitely.
"I look forward to coming back next year looking for a math replacement and maybe someone else," she said.
All the reassigning of teachers will have a slight impact on class sizes. In the past, Mount Greylock has targeted a low class size of 17 and a high class size of 24. The upper limit stays the same in the current FY17 projection, but the lower limit nudges up to 19.
The loss of teachers also leads to a reduction in middle school enrichment classes and less scheduling flexibility in both the middle and high school.
"But having looked at what we'll be able to offer … we anticipate we'll be able to manage next year," MacDonald said.
Under the budget as it stood on Thursday, the local assessments would be up by 3.24 percent, an increase borne entirely by Williamstown. The Williamstown assessment was projected at $5.2 million, a 5 percent change from the nearly $5 million assessed in FY16. Lanesborough's assessment would drop .16 percent, a change of about $4,000, if the budget stays as drafted.
The School Committee has planned a joint session on Tuesday, March 8, at 9 a.m. with its own finance committee to review the budget again as the administration brings it into sharper focus.
The district will present its budget to the finance committees in Williamstown and Lanesborough later in the month.
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