Santa isn’t the only one this December making a list and checking it twice. Edgecomb Eddy School Principal Tom Landberg shared his Fiscal Year 25 budget priority list Nov. 27 with the school committee. School officials are already forecasting another tight-budget forecast for Fiscal Year 25, so Landberg reported his immediate priorities begin with academics.

He identified bolstering the math program as an immediate need. Landberg proposed adding a math interventionist. He recommended adding another teaching position over an educational technician in the interventionist’s role. “Math doesn’t have the same multi-tiered support system that literacy has,” he said. “The interventionist would do more than work with students. The person would look at classroom strategies along with scope, skills and sequences of learning.”  

Committee Chairman Heather Sinclair agreed with Landberg’s desire for more math support. “Can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” she said. “I 100% agree with the need for a math interventionist.” 

Landberg also recommended the school committee revisit past requests for building and grounds capital improvement projects. Among the projects listed by Landberg were improvements to the school’s driveway, adding an outdoor cold storage facility and new interior window shades. 

As the committee begins contemplating future budget priorities, problems have popped up with the current one. Superintendent Bob Kahler reported the current budget is experiencing over-expenditures for bus repair/maintenance and facilities maintenance. Kahler said the facilities/ maintenance cost center was trending toward a $30,000 overage. Electricity spending would be $15,000 to $20,000 over, and repairs and the maintenance cost center had already spent 75% of its budget. 

Sinclair said the committee “budgeted too close to the bone” for these cost centers and should take a closer look in future budgets. Special education budgeting has been another troublesome cost center in recent years. This spring, selectmen approved a school committee request to spend "up to $100,000” from the student expense reserve account. The committee requested additional funds to cover unanticipated special education costs. The committee needed to cover contracted services, psychological services, professional development and instructional supplies costs.

There are no funds remaining in the student expense account if a similar emergency occurs this year. Kahler recommended budgeting two additional special education tuition needs for FY 25, but this would not address a similar emergency this year.  Administrators and committee members are scrambling to find a budget solution if another emergency occurs in the current fiscal year..

Sinclair described the challenge as a “triple whammy” problem. “We still have those needs in our regular special education budget. That’s the first whammy. The second is, as of this moment, there is no money set aside in the student expense reserve account. The third whammy is we need to find a way to replenish the account,” she said.

Using surplus FY 24 funds is an unlikely solution to replenish the student expense reserve account because school officials do not foresee the year ending with a surplus.