GREENFIELD — On a tight deadline to nail down a fiscal year 2021 budget to present to the public, the Greenfield School Committee’s budget subcommittee met for the first time Tuesday morning.
The deadline for the School Committee to post its public hearing is Feb. 21, leaving less than a month for a proposed budget to come together.
On Tuesday, the subcommittee — made up of Amy Proietti, Jean Wall and Susan Eckstrom, who acts as chair — decided to meet twice a week on an accelerated schedule, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. until the week of Feb. 13.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner attended the meeting as well as Greenfield School Department Business Manager Stephen Nembirkow. Wedegartner told the group the budget deadlines are difficult, but need to be met.
“I’m starting today with the budget meetings with the department heads. I can’t give you a full picture quite yet of where we are and where we’re headed,” Wedegartner noted. “Just know it’s going to be very tight for a variety of reasons.”
Superintendent Jordana Harper said with the accelerated timeline, there might not be time for the full School Committee to vote on the budget before the notice for the public hearing needs to be published in the newspaper.
“The best thing we could do today is work backward,” Harper said. “I’m interested in hearing what the subcommittee is most interested in, what department heads and schools you want to hear from personally, and what you imagine the budget process looks like at the full School Committee level.”
Nembirkow reported he is currently preparing a 2021 fiscal year “forecast.” Additionally, Eckstrom requested a school finance and budget “cheat sheet” to better understand the budget process, including Chapter 70 funding.
Harper said one of the concerns from the schools is that “robust discussion” occurs at the subcommittee level, but the full public doesn’t hear that conversation.
“There’s really a desire for people to peel back what’s happening in the schools and to understand the needs, concerns, strengths and challenges,” Harper said.
She said the budget is “truly based on the schools needs — it’s not a wish list.”
“It’s a prioritization process where the business director and myself have been in this planning process with the schools,” Harper said. “I think that at the subcommittee level, you need to have some back and forth with principals and the department heads.”
Harper added she believes a presentation from each of the Greenfield School Department’s principals would be helpful at the full committee level as well.
Direction during the budget process’ early phases is essential, Harper said, noting the budget is the priority for the next four weeks. She emphasized that multiple versions of a potential budget will be presented.
“We’re going to try to get to a place where everybody feels that we’re making a good recommendation,” she said.
Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.