GREENFIELD — Due to a number of financial uncertainties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greenfield School Department is reworking its fiscal 2021 budget.
“Where we’re at in terms of budgeting is … we’ve taken our first step, we’ve put a budget forward,” said Greenfield School Committee Chair Amy Proietti. “We know the mayor is looking for about a $1 million cut from that budget. We’re prepared to do that.”
The School Committee approved a $21.4 million budget for the Greenfield School Department on March 4, an increase of $2.1 million from the current fiscal year’s budget.
At a budget hearing Thursday, City Council Vice President Otis Wheeler said the budget proposed by Mayor Roxann Wedegartner represents a significant cut from what was initially proposed by Superintendent Jordana Harper and approved by the School Committee. Wheeler said there could be more cuts ahead, though they do not know yet where they’ll be made.
“There may be additions, but they will probably be outweighed by cuts,” he said.
Proietti said the committee has a number of factors to consider as it continues to work on the fiscal 2021 school budget, namely unknown revenue projections at both the state and city levels.
She said the budget is also affected by delays in the state budgeting process. She noted it is important to recognize that Chapter 70 may not be the same, and the Student Opportunity Act funding may not be forthcoming.
“I think, in reality, we’re going to need to cut much more significantly in order to get aligned with the mayor’s budget and the new reality,” Proietti said.
She added that the budget, as proposed, was already a “bare bones” budget.
Harper echoed many of the same concerns as Proietti.
“We’re trying to make sense of a budget at a very unprecedented time. … There are many ways that legislators have tried to step up and bring relief, but we simply don’t know what those exact numbers will look like yet,” she said. “We really have no way to know what the impact of the needs of our students will be.”
She said school closures and the switch to a remote learning curriculum — which Proietti referred to as the ultimate unfunded mandate — may have the biggest impact on special education students and students learning English as a second language in the upcoming school year.
“We’re going to see an unprecedented need when they return to school at the very same time that we are likely to experience historical shortfalls in revenue and cuts to our funding,” Harper said.
Given those circumstances, Wheeler asked city councilors on Thursday to review the operational budget as a whole, as he said many line items don’t reflect the reality going forward.
Several of the new positions factored into the School Committee’s budget will likely be cut, according to Harper.
“We don’t have the exact cuts to the mayor’s budget solidified,” she noted.
City Councilor Virginia DeSorgher asked what savings there would be in the general fund, as the school year comes to an end with many of the expected expenses — such as transportation — no longer relevant during the COVID-19 crisis.
Business Manager Stephen Nembirkow said there will be cost savings with respect to field trips and athletic transportation, but a significant portion of the operating budget is salaries, which are still being paid.
“There’s not a lot of discretionary money in there,” he explained.
Addressing questions regarding paying staff that aren’t providing services while schools are closed, Nembirkow and Harper said all teachers, staff and other employees of the department are continuing to provide services, just in different ways.
The capital budget, which represents about $600,000 of the proposed budget, is also taking a hit.
DeSorgher asked how projects could be prioritized going forward, even with the cuts already made to the budget.
Harper said projects were prioritized based on health and safety.
“I spoke with the facilities director recently. … His concern was that these paving projects could get much more expensive and more involved rather quickly,” Harper said. “He did speak about the Newton project as a real priority as far as a cost priority, but also as a safety priority.”
According to the budget document presented at the hearing, the Newton School paving project involves repaving and expansion of the parking lot, curbing and lining. The mayor proposed $82,500 in borrowing for the project, which matched the request of the department.
Wedegartner recommended borrowing $157,500 for flooring projects necessary at the Federal Street School and Greenfield Middle School, which represents roughly a $19,000 decrease from the previous budget.
The budget for fencing projects at several schools, however, took nearly a 50 percent hit, with the mayor proposing $45,000 in borrowing, compared to the $97,600 requested by the Greenfield School Department.
The requested budget for painting projects was also reduced significantly, from $69,000 to $20,500.
“Many of the School Department’s capital requests may seem on the smaller side … and consequently they tend to be pushed off from year to year,” Wheeler noted. “And in many cases, these things can (wait), but what happens is after a few years they all pile up.”
He also explained these capital requests have already been cut down, first by the School Committee, then by the Capital Committee and now by the mayor.
“The council’s go at this, in some sense,” he said, “could be strike four.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.