Proposed Shaker District budget up 1.5%

BELMONT — Voters attending the deliberative session for the Shaker Regional School District on Wednesday, Feb. 9 will take up a proposed operating budget of $26,665,072, representing an increase of $385,270, or 1.5%, over the current-year budget.

If separate warrant articles pass, the budget would increase to $26,785,072, or $505,270 more than the current budget, a 1.9% increase.

School Board Chair Michelle Lewis explained that much of the increase is due to the district now including $617,297 in wages and benefits for support staff that previously were covered under a separate agreement with the Support Staff Union, which has been decertified, according to minutes of the January 20 budget hearing at Belmont High School.

If voters reject the proposed budget, a default budget of $26,244,987 would take effect.

The proposed budget includes money to cover increases in property and liability insurance, the cost of replacement of cafeteria tables at Belmont Elementary School, and new software to help prevent hacking. Replacement of athletic equipment and uniforms also contributed to the increase.

The school board also is proposing increasing the work day for behavioral assistants from 6 to 6.5 hours, and creating a new position for a special education coordinator to help provide consistency between schools. Canterbury Elementary School would have a dedicated art teacher working part-time, under the plan.

Special warrant articles ask voters to add $20,000 to the Technology Expendable Trust Fund and $100,000 to the School Facilities & Grounds Expendable Trust Fund. Both appropriations would use money from the year-end unassigned fund balance, which is money previously raised by taxation and not used. That means that no new money would be raised; however, that money otherwise could be used to reduce future taxation.

Business Administrator Debbie Thompson reported that the district returned $1.6 million in unexpended funds to the taxpayers of the two member towns at the end of the 2020-21 budget year.

Another warrant article asks voters to allow the school district to retain as much as 5% of the net annual tax assessment to provide a buffer against unexpected costs in the future. Before using that money, the district would have to hold a public hearing and authorize an emergency expenditure. Officials could only do so if no other sources of money could be applied.

The deliberative session will take place at Belmont High School on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. Voters at that time will have the opportunity to amend the warrant before official ballot voting on Tuesday, March 8.