I wrote this as a follow up to the parents that have e-mailed, called, and met with me over the past few months regarding the school budget.  Below please find a bullet point summary of what we know at this point and how the budget process works from here.

Some of this information will not be new to many of you, as much of it is what has been presented publicly over the past couple of months.  However, I wanted to write a summary that made no assumptions about what parents know or do not know as many of you do not have the time or resources to follow the budget process on a daily basis.

Again, what is presented is what we know based on what has been presented to the council and to you by BPS.  I cannot vouch for the numbers.  The Council will get its chance to ask detailed questions about the numbers presented once the City budget is submitted to us.

Finally, I will continue to give you updates as we learn anything new.  If you have friends who want to receive regular budget updates, please have them email me at john@connollyforboston.com.

BPS Budget Update as of March 20, 2009

• On Monday, BPS will post the proposed BPS School Budget on the BPS website.  It is very likely that this will be the version submitted to the School Committee for a vote on Wednesday, March 25.
• The Mayor has increased the target appropriation to BPS by $25 million from $786 million to approximately $812 million.
• Because of new guidelines from Federal Government, BPS will now use $16 million of Title I and IDEA stimulus funds over two years to keep teaching positions in schools.  The BPS term is teacher “position restoration”.
• Based on my discussions with school officials and media reports, there are 212 teaching positions that stand to be cut as of today.
• The 212 teaching positions are made up of 134 teachers and 78 paraprofessionals.  All of these professionals are members of the BTU.
• The current deadline for written notice of excessed teaching positions (see my March 19 update for definition of “Excessed”) is March 25, 2009.
• The Excessed deadline has been extended twice.

Specific Questions asked at Parent Meetings or in E-mails

• 53 teachers have given early notice of retirement. This is fewer than in a typical year.  I am working on figures for eligibility.
• Food increase costs are largely due to employee costs.
• Title I Funding Formula: BPS uses school-wide projects formula; if 40% or more of students are eligible for free/reduced lunch, school can get Title I money which can be used for improvement of the whole school.
• There are only two schools in BPS that are not Title I eligible: Boston Latin School and the Manning in Jamaica Plain.  This can change yearly as enrollment changes.
• The 5-Zone proposal will not be voted on as part of the proposed BPS School Budget.
• It is possible that a school zone reform plan will be voted on this year separately.
• “Foundation Budgets” are a complicated legislative requirement.  They basically represent a per pupil minimum dollar amount that a school district needs to spend. The per pupil amount varies depending on the student (ie: sped, vocational, kindergarten, etc) and when matched with enrollment numbers creates the “foundation budget”. Other adjustments are also made based on the location of the town (labor market). The DOE has a more complex, thorough explanation http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/chapter70/chapter_cal.html. You can also look on the website to find out how far under requirement a school district is http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/schfin/Chapter70/profile.aspx?ID=317, but the FY09 numbers are budgeted and not actuals so my assumption is that if a school district is under foundation levels, it is because they have not spent this year what their requirement is.