Berkshire Hills discusses components of FY ’14 budget

GREAT BARRINGTON – As in most school systems, buildings and grounds maintenance, food services and technology are three key areas in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD).

In preparation for the fiscal year 2014 budget season, presentations on these topics were given to the BHRSD School Committee at a recent meeting.

While most school districts throughout the county, state and country are seeing deficits in their cafeteria programs, the administration and the school committee at Berkshire Hills have long made commitments to feed students quality food despite the rising costs.

Kathy Sullivan, director of food services, and Sharon L. Harrison, district business administrator, gave a presentation on the district’s cafeteria programs, complete with offering samples to the school committee.

The district has also seen a rise in the number of students needing free and reduced meals; the number is currently at 380.

“That number has almost doubled since I’ve been here,” said Ms. Sullivan, who has been at the district for six years.

Technology

The BHRSD technology program has been working to implement new equipment and software district-wide, including developing a computing cloud through LaunchPad, installing a new wireless network and bringing in more tablets and laptops.

“We’re trying to be more proactive than reactive,” said Diego Solis, BHRSD information technology director.

The new technology initiatives in the schools also encourage staff members and students to bring their own devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones) to use on the district’s wireless network, and Mr. Solis indicated they have 400-500 guest devices on a daily basis.

Buildings and grounds

Steven Soule, assistant business administrator, also gave an overview on the facilities needs for the district.

He requested hiring more custodians, as the district currently only has two custodians covering an 83,000-square-foot building, when the suggested amount for one custodian to cover is 20,000 square feet.

The school committee also gave immediate approval to Mr. Soule’s proposal for more advanced safety measures at Monument Mountain Regional High School, including installing a camera and buzzer system at the main entrance and main office. The estimated cost for the updating the security ranged from $5,860 to $6,860.

Mr. Soule plans to have the system in place by the end of the month.

“I’d love to get this pushed through for February vacation,” he said.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on February 6, 2013. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry