LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Elementary School Committee will present its proposed fiscal 2017 budget on March 22.

 

The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the school and the committee will be presenting a budget that calls for a level-funded appropriation from the town.

 

Overall, the budget is increasing by $79,461 but the committee is budgeting for enough revenue coming in from school choice to offset the increase.

 

The School Committee is estimating some $95,000 or so will be coming for school-choice students, which will cover the increase and replenish the contingency reserves. The committee identified areas of the budgets such as professional development and textbooks which could be paid for with the school-choice revenues instead of the appropriated budget.

 

"Everything [in the budget] is necessary," Chairwoman Regina DiLego said. "But you target things you could go without in a pinch."

 

Superintendent Douglas Dias said he would have liked to have seen money available for two more administrative positions but he ultimately withdrew the requests to keep the budgets down. After seeing more than $100,000 cut out of the school's budget last year, Dias says the proposal is very lean.

 

"It is as tight of a budget you could possibly get," Dias said. 

 

School Committee member P.J. Pannesco said he does not expect any complaints from town officials with the budget. However, DiLego said there could be an attempt to take away the contingency fund, as was the case last year.

 

Last year, town officials tried to cut $50,000 more from the budget and in return promised to create a reserve fund for the school. At town meeting, that was reversed and control over that money was given back to the school.

 

"From a risk management standpoint, you have to have something," said Business Manager Nancy Rauscher.

 

It isn't quite clear exactly what the contingency will be for FY17 because some of the expenditures from this year are still unknown. But, it is a far cry from the 3 to 5 percent of the entire budget Dias says is typical for schools. The money is used for emergency or unexpected issues, such as additional work to patch leaks in the roof as the school did this past year. 

 

The roof is nearly 12 years old and Dias is concerned that the budgets haven't set money aside for what could be a $1 million roof replacement. The committee wants to start a conversation surrounding capital repairs.

 

"The roof is only good for another 10 years," he said. 

 

Dias said he'd like to "contribute to the dialogue" of establishing a capital plan for an array of items from the roof to a crooked flagpole to anything else beyond normal maintenance, with the town to ensure money is being reserved for the repairs.

 

Gordon Noseworthy, who recently served as an interim superintendent, had crafted a plan for the school and Town Manager Paul Sieloff has been building a townwide plan. DiLego said conversations with Sieloff and the Board of Selectmen about the future capital repairs will likely be hold until budget season is over.

 

DiLego said, however, that the town is receiving the money for tuitioned students — that money goes to the town and not to the school. With some $126,000 coming in each year, school officials see that as a revenue stream for the capital repairs.

 

"That's a nice revenue stream," Rauscher said.

 

Nonetheless, the committee wants to make sure there is some type of plan in place to have money allocated for ongoing maintenance so that the school doesn't fall into disrepair.