Pittsfield Public Schools FY ’14 budget approved

PITTSFIELD – A middle ground has been reached.

After some debate between the municipal side and the school department, the school committee has approved a $56.4 million budget for fiscal year 2014, followed by the city council’s approval of the assessment of $55.7 million.

The difference is accounted for by revenues, including school choice funds.

The $56.43 million school budget is a three percent increase ($1.66 million) over the FY ’13 budget of $54.77 million.

An initial budget of $57.5 million (nearly a five percent increase) was presented by Interim Superintendent Gordon L. Noseworthy earlier this year, a figure Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi (who is also on the school committee) thought was too high.

One possibility cut as part of reaching a middle ground was the hiring of a “float” nurse – at $45,000 – who would work at each of the district’s 12 schools as needed.

Large portions of the increased budget include $374,000 attributed to 12 new full- and part-time teaching positions and $200,00 to leasing 43 new school buses under a three-year contract.

The district had initially budgeted $435,000 to buy eight buses in FY ’14, planning to replace the fleet over the next five years.

The city council vote was preliminary, with a final vote expected to take place at its June 27 meeting. The council has a July 1 deadline (the start of FY ’14) to approve the budget.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on June 20, 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