Schools seek 17% budget increase;
Superintendent cites rising special education costs, says even 17% inadequate

Randolph Superintendent of Schools Richard Silverman is seeking a 17 percent budget increase for the 2007-08 school year.

Cuts in school programs from a budget that is slightly less than it was five years ago have left a school system that is not meeting the minimum needs of its students, he said.

“We need to change that picture if we are going to be fair to our children,” Silverman said last night, adding that even the budget he is recommending is inadequate.

Limited resources and opportunities for students is behind the drop in the school system’s enrollment, which declined by 183 students this year to 3,448. Silverman said 30 percent of the system’s Grade 8 students leave to attend other high schools.

The stagnant budget also has caused a serious decline in MCAS scores, with 70 percent of the students scoring in the needs improvement or failing categories, Silverman said. Randolph Community Middle School faces a possible state takeover, Kennedy Elementary School has been cited for corrective action, and all other schools have been identified as needing improvement based on student MCAS scores.

Silverman is proposing a budget of $34.25 million, an increase of $5.08 million from the current $29.17 million. Maintaining current school programs for another year would cost $32.84 million, an increase of $3.67 million or 13 percent.

Much of the higher cost for existing programs is due to a rise in special education expenses. The proposal includes $1.6 million for special education tuition for out-of-district programs and related transportation.

The school system has implemented a freeze on nonessential spending due to a $2 million deficit in special education accounts in the current school budget.

Special education expenses represent 29 percent of Silverman’s proposed budget. School officials said 22 percent of the system’s students have been identified with special needs.

Salary increases would add another $1.25 million. Teacher salaries would rise by more than 6.2 percent.

More than half of the teaching staff have worked in the school system less than five years. Silverman said this means that in addition to getting an annual pay raise, most teachers also qualify for step raises due to additional experience or degrees.

The budget also contains an additional $350,000 to purchase new math, phonics and writing texts, which is 4 1 2 times what was originally included for textbooks and other instructional materials in the current school budget.

The size of the increase “shows you how little we’ve been spending on textbooks and instructional materials,” said Steven Moore, the school system’s executive director of administration and finance.

Assistant Superintendent Jonathan Landman said the school system doesn’t have phonics or writing programs, and the math texts don’t match up with the questions students must answer on the MCAS test.

Silverman is also recommending restoring some of the cuts made in the current school budget, including 10 elementary teachers. There would be six more classroom teachers; art, music and physical education teachers; and a reading specialist. Teaching positions would also be restored at Randolph High School.

The superintendent is also seeking funding for alternative programs at the middle school and high school and remedial programs. A new grant writer position is also included.

Silverman said the proposal leaves many other needs unmet, including all-day kindergarten programs and the purchase of new educational technology.

It also doesn’t include the possible closing of an elementary school, which the school committee is investigating.

The finance committee has asked each town department to prepare two budgets: one that maintains current programs and one where the department gets the same amount of money to spend as in the current budget.

School officials said no increase in the budget would lead to widespread cuts, especially to cover the higher special education expenses.

“We’re talking about doing such damage to our school system that it may no longer be recognized as a school system,” Silverman said.

Most of those cuts would be to reduce the number of school employees, he said.

The school committee did not have a quorum for last night’s scheduled meeting and could not take any action on the proposal. The committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Randolph High School TV Studio.

This is Silverman’s second budget proposal as school superintendent. Last year, he requested $34.67 million, a 19 percent increase. The $29.17 million approved by town meeting is the same as the 2005-06 school budget, and $210,000 less than the 2002-03 school budget.

In the past five years, enrollment in the Randolph schools has dropped by 16 percent, while statewide public school enrollment has remained stable.

Fred Hanson may be reached at fhanson@ledger.com.