Dear LS Students, Families and Staff,
The Superintendent’s Recommended Budget for FY24 for the next school year was presented at LS School Committee last night. A copy of the slide deck is attached. Highlights of what the proposed budget supports are as follows.
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The budget supports the realization of the primary objectives of the district's LSRHS Strategic Plan 2020-25 and LS Portrait of a Graduate for all its students.
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All recently increased staffing to enhance student services related to the pandemic is sustained.
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All recent general and special education improvements to this year’s programs are sustained. This includes the increases to Mandarin language and computer science courses and sections plus the new Partners program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
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Student enrollment in the LS Global Scholars Program has increased four-fold since its inception and staff time to oversee the program has been increased to support this growth.
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A new Advisory Program to include all students to be implemented this fall.
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Student enrollment has decreased over the past few years and is forecast to decrease more over the next few years. Accordingly, numbers of staff will be adjusted downward over time. This has been happening over the last few years and will continue to be done through attrition caused by retirement and/or resignations.
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As we adjust staffing to correspond with lower enrollment the median class size for the current year across various departments is between 17 and 23, consistent with prior years.
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The financial gap between the proposed budget and town guidance is $152, 730. This gap will be closed by staff attrition due to retirement and/or resignation.
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All tuitions charged by schools in which we place students out of district must be approved by the state. The state has determined that tuitions may increase 14% for the next school year. The typical allowance has been between 2.5 and 3%. The increase in tuition will be balanced by a combination of an offset from our tuition reserve account and anticipated circuit breaker funds to be received next school year.
The proposed budget will be further reviewed independently by the Lincoln and Sudbury Finance Committees in public session. The Public Hearing is scheduled for January 24 and a School Committee vote for approval on February 6. Please refer to the slide deck for additional detail and the budget calendar of all meetings.
On behalf of our LS school community I extend my sincerest appreciation to the residents of the Towns of Lincoln and Sudbury for the strength of their ongoing support of our school programs.
Bella Wong