Dear LS Students, Families and Staff,
The LS FY23 Operating and Capital Budgets were approved at the Sudbury Town Meeting which was held last week over three days. The LS FY23 Budgets were approved at Lincoln Town Meeting on March 26. Now that the budgets have received approval by both towns these will be the budgets for the fiscal year starting on July 1, 2022. A copy of the slides used for the Sudbury Town Meeting are attached. Proposals for the budgets were first presented in early December and these slides are the most updated. State funding is not set until the state legislature approves a state wide FY23 Budget in time for July 1.
The FY23 Operating Budget meets the guidance set by the Town of Sudbury and is within the guidance set by the Town of Lincoln. This past fall the School Committee and Teachers' Association successfully resolved a new successor agreemenr for FY23-25 wich included a COLA increase of 3, 2 and 2 percent for the next three years. The FY23 Budget covers the first year of this increase plus signifcant and modest increases in the cost of regular transportation and health insurance balanced by reductions in the out of district tuition and utility costs. The reduction in the tuition line is related to ongoing support for in district programs and an increase in state funded reimbursement of expenses.
I am very pleased to affirm that in the balance of reductions and increases the FY23 Budget allows us to add the following improvements to the educational programs at LS:
• A new program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to extend a program that currently exists at Curtis Middle School
• Increasing Mandarin language study to four years from three
• Increasing a part-time position at LS Academy to 1.0 from .5 FTE
• Increasing computer science staffing by .75 in order to meet the state digital learning standards and a new graduation requirement at LS that will start with the class of 2026
I extend my deep appreciation to the communities of Lincoln and Sudbury for the continued support of the educational programs at LS. I also thank Kirsteen Patterson, LS Director of Finance and Operations, for her key role in the development of the budgets and our staff members, particularly Kevin Rossley, Director of Buildings and Grounds for their additional research and input. Thank you to the LS School Committee, the Lincoln and Sudbury Select Boards, Finance Committees, Capital Committees, Town Administrative leadership and Staff for their careful review and support of our presentations.
Sincerely,
Bella Wong