GREENFIELD — The mayor’s proposed budget is asking for a 2 percent increase in the School Department for next year — roughly $250,000 less than the department’s request.
Superintendent Jordana Harper asked for a 3.39 percent increase, which the School Committee unanimously approved on March 9. Mayor William Martin, who is also a member of the School Committee, did not attend that meeting.
During the committee’s meeting Wednesday night, members Adrienne Nunez and Susan Hollins asked Martin to speak to additional reductions in the superintendent’s proposal.
Martin said he needs to spend more time with the line items in the budget to provide a detailed breakdown of where reductions would be made, but he believes there is “room for efficiencies” and savings could be found in transportation costs.
He also recommended reconsideration of a number of new positions that would be created under the superintendent’s budget, noting the expense to the town in both salaries and benefits.
Business Manager Howard Barber said the budget includes a total of 13 positions that would either be added as full-time jobs or partially increase an existing employee’s hours, including custodial, nursing and behaviorist positions.
Altogether, the positions would be equal to 9½ full-time jobs.
“There are lots of areas in there to shave it down,” he said.
Martin said the town budget, which includes money for the schools, could be bolstered by state aid, but how much the town will receive is unclear at this time. He noted that the state budget as proposed by the House of Representatives includes decreases in charter school reimbursements and veteran’s benefits, while the town’s charter assessment has risen.
“It’s a net loss for Greenfield,” he said. “We have hopeful discussions going on in the Senate. In this season, we’re seeing very low Chapter 70 (aid) from the governor, knowing that the House and Senate would increase it, and we’re hoping the Senate will increase it a lot. That may be the time to say we have more than we thought and adapt.”
Harper disagreed, noting that the new hires actually represented a savings for the district.
“I think (the budget) was far from frivolous, and I don’t believe there is room for efficiencies,” she said. “We may have more costs than budgeted because some of our current costs are inefficient. I respect the mayor’s desire for a lean budget, and we share in those goals … We’ll be working as diligently as possible to balance the budget with what is available.”
About 2 percent of the increase in the budget is driven by fixed transportation and special education costs, administrators have previously noted.