The school district finished the year with a whopping $1,227 in the bank.
Given the financial constraints this year, it’s quite an accomplishment.
“It looks like we made it, but by the skin of our teeth,” schools Superintendent Stephen Tracy said.
The dollar figure is a year-end projection. The school’s fiscal year ended July 1. It doesn’t include June’s expenses, which are still being crunched.
The year-end numbers bring an end to a tough fiscal year for the district.
There will be about 20 less staff members in the district when school starts in September.
The cut positions include eight teachers, three librarians and about a dozen paraprofessionals.
The school board had originally requested a $17.9 million budget. Eventually, it received $17.3 million — not as much as school officials wanted, but still about 4.5 percent more than the previous budget, Tracy said.
The lack of money this year is going to hit the athletics program at the high school worst of all, Tracy said. The annual athletics budget there runs about $240,000. It is facing a 30 percent cut, Tracy said.
Athletic Director Joseph Orazietti is still trying to figure how “to allocate the pain,” Tracy said.
The middle school athletic problem is also facing cuts.
“The athletic director is working with the coaches to see how that will impact the number of teams they will be able to offer in the coming year,” Tracy said.
Next year will be even tougher, Tracy said. The district’s new middle school will be open and the town will start paying down debt service on the project.
