Officials stand up for school spending

Forced expenditures are reason for most of budget, they say


Because of salaries, tuition, transportation and benefits, nearly 94 percent of the school committee’s $13.14 million operating budget is not negotiable.

“The majority of our budget is completely outside of our control,” said Keith Roberts, chairman.

The superintendent of schools, Ken Duva, sifted through the spending plan during a joint session last Thursday between the school board and town council. The proposed measure for 2019-20, which is $495,767 more than the current year, represents a 3.91 percent increase. Although the budget already has been approved by the school board, there still can be changes before the council adopts it by the May 3 deadline. Town Administrator Andy Nota has proposed a $25.46 million budget to operate the schools and municipality in the upcoming year, an increase of $1.15 million.

As it stands, taxpayers would have to contribute $12.33 million to support Duva’s plan, a 5.7 percent increase from the current year. Along with rising healthcare and transportation costs, the uptick can be traced to a reduction in revenue. According to Duva, he is assuming $840,260 in non-tax revenue, which is $171,476 less than the current year. He pointed to a $45,000 shortfall in state aid.

“It’s a very broken system,” Roberts said about the state formula to finance education. “It needs significant reform.”

Revenue also is down because of a concerted effort by Duva to stop relying on the district’s surplus to subsidize operating expenses. Since fiscal year 2014- 15, the district has used $1.2 million from its reserve fund to offset the budget, an annual average of $240,000. For the upcoming year, however, Duva has proposed taking $100,000 from the reserve. The reason, he said, is because of $7 million needed to repair the schools in the next five years. While a bond was approved to cover $5.9 million of that cost, the remainder will come from the reserve, including $360,000 proposed for the upcoming year.

In the past decade, Nota said, the school district has whittled away at its $2 million surplus to finance contractual obligations and capital improvements. While this shows “strong financial strength” to creditors, he expects the town council to pick up the slack within five years.

“Those balances aren’t there anymore,” he said. “Unless the school has consistently high surpluses in the coming years, eventually that reserve will be gone. You’ll be looking at the council just to fund your regular capital expenses.”

An additional $3.51 million in capital improvement will be financed in 2019-20 through the bond, which passed overwhelmingly in November. The lion’s share of this money will be used to replace the roofs and install solar arrays on them, Duva said.

The per-pupil cost in Jamestown is $18,814, about $1,336 more than the Rhode Island median. Mike White, council president, defended this number.

“You get what you pay for,” he said, “and we get what we pay for. We prove that with a good investment, we do the most important thing that we can do in our community. That’s educate our children. And we do it well.”

White was referring to both schools in the district being commended by the state of Rhode Island. Moreover, Melrose School was named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School, the highest achievement awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

According to Duva’s report, tuition accounted for 24 percent of the budget. The $3.31 million for tuition includes $945,400 for special education, 65 percent of which is for students enrolled in other districts. This includes 12 military students with individual education plans, up from five in 2014.

“In a small district with small numbers, that’s a big increase,” he said.

Overall, Duva’s enrollment figures indicate a stable population to the student body. He is projecting four additional students at Melrose (277); four fewer at Lawn (226); and 18 more at the high school level (188). That is 691 total students from Jamestown, which is within the historical 10-year range that included a high of 698 in 2010 and a low of 639 in 2016.

The only added position on the proposed budget is $50,000 for a part-time math interventionist.

“We could have very easily said we wanted a full-time interventionist,” Duva said, “but we didn’t.”

According to Committeewoman Sally Schott, this a barebones budget with no extravagant items in it.

“It’s really a consistent investment,” she said. “We’re not overpaying for anything. It’s nothing more than we had last year. It’s just that it costs more. Our objective is to maintain this excellence.”

Responding to a question from an audience member regarding whether the district should be spending more money to compete with test scores in neighboring Massachusetts, Councilwoman Mary Meagher said the schools were only in the first year of using the Bay State assessments.

“Massachusetts has 25 years of teaching toward that test,” she said. “I’m not convinced Jamestown isn’t almost as good as Massachusetts.”

Roberts disagreed. “We’re significantly behind,” he responded.

Duva, however, said money is not the only influence on a district’s success.

“It’s not just saying we need more money,” he said. “It’s about the educators and the instruction we provide. Some of that work we can do without money. You might think I’m crazy for saying that. But it’s looking at your curriculum.”

Duva said he is confident about getting Jamestown students to 90 percent proficiency in English and math, which was accomplished using a lower threshold before its transition to the Massachusetts test last year.

“We’re at the starting line,” he said. “There’s no reason why we can’t do better. And we will do better.”