DOVER — School district administrators delved deeper into to the next fiscal year’s proposed budget.
Dover School Superintendent William Harbron stressed he was not presenting a budget but two models: one that was last year’s budget with additional contractual obligations, and the second with additional staffing to begin implementing the district’s strategic plan that was approved late last year.
“Somewhere in between is where we need to go,” he said at Monday’s meeting.
The baseline budget with obligations is just under $61.5 million. That is about a 5.9 percent increase in commitments over the current operating budget of $58 million.
Operating costs alone see an increase nearing $2.9 million. The estimated revenue for next year’s budget is $59.2 million, which includes $34.4 million in property tax revenue.
The primary drivers for baseline increases are increased contractual labor costs, debt service for the Garrison School and High School projects and special education programs. The increased cost of special education programs alone is more than $1.4 million over last year’s adopted budget.
The other budget model with priorities that would seek to add positions, books, software and building maintenance is $62.6 million, a $4.5 million or 7.8 percent increase over the current budget.
In just under two hours, members of the administration went through a detailed presentation on the current and project needs of the district. The 106-page presentation is available on the district’s website at www.dover.k12.nh.us/about_us/business_office/budget and the meeting can be watched on Channel 22 or online at dovernh.viebit.com.
Business Administrator Libby Simmons went through the hard numbers showing the estimated cost of different contracts that will go into effect next year, debt service and capital reserve balance among many other figures. In one slide, Simmons highlighted how the cost per pupil at Dover High School was $3,000 less than the state average of $15,538.
Curriculum Coordinator Paula Glynn highlighted some of the curriculum challenges and opportunities in the district. One of those challenges is students who have English as a second language, referred to as ESL students. While the district can estimate how many students will need assistance, it is an unknown until school begins.
The number of ESL students increase from 79 last year to 130 this year. “It’s really hard to predict that,” Glynn said. “Most of these students are newcomers, which means they need a great deal of support.”
Glynn said there are 29 languages spoken by students in the school representing 30 countries.
Jeffrey Myers, director of technology, highlighted the budget challenges of keeping technology up to date. According to his presentation, an additional $229,315 is needed on top of the 2019 baseline budget allocation just to keep up with district computer replacement schedules for faculty, staff and computer labs. Another $259 is needed to keep up with the classroom projector replacement cycles.
At the end of the presentation and after fielding questions, Harbron gave the School Board homework: identify the board’s priorities and any guidelines the board wants the administration to follow while honing the budget proposal.
The next budget meeting is a workshop scheduled for Jan. 16.