A technology capital request being considered by the School Committee for the May 1 Annual Town Meeting.
Photo credit: Deborah Gauthier

NORTHBRIDGE – The School Committee will present a $24.5 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 to the Finance Committee at a meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

It reflects an increase of$973,475 over fiscal year 2012, $516,158 of that increase due to contracted salary raises.

Of the total, $21.3 million will be sought from voters at the Spring Annual Town Meeting on May 1 –$15 million in Chapter 70 state aid funding, a number that could change, noted Business Manager Melissa Walker, and $6.2 million from taxpayers.

The remainder will come from grants and the School Department’s Revolver Account, she said.

Chapter 70 funding shows a $1 million increase over last year, Walker noted, a number that takes into account enrollment, low incomes and inflation. The state has yet to finalize its budget however, so that number could change, she warned.

A public hearing on the budget will be held by the School Committee on March 13.

On a related topic, the school board heard a presentation from Technology Director Kadion Phillips who proposes purchasing eight Smart Boards, two for each school, and replacing CRT computer monitors with LCD monitors as a $94,433 Capital Improvement expense.

Capital expenses are presented to voters as separate spending requests on Town Meeting warrants.

Many of the monitors have been in the district since the high school opened in 2001, Kadion explained. The older monitors are recycled down to the middle and elementary schools as they’re replaced with newer monitors at the high school.

The district will save money on energy, he said, because LCD monitors use less. In addition, they will be more time efficient.

Schools Superintendent said the school board will have to talk to Town Manager Theodore Kozak to determine how the proposal can be funded. To make it on the Town Warrant, the information has to get to the town manager by March 16,  she noted.

School Committee member Fred Beauregard suggested doubling the number of Smart Board purchases as a capital expense. “It’s not a huge sum, but it really could make a difference,’’ he said.

“We tried to be conservative with the number,’’ Gorky said, but will discuss  the proposal with the Finance Committee and town manager.

The superintendent's full budget proposal can be viewed at http://www.nps.org/sites/default/files/story/2010/03/fy_2012_superintendent_s_preliminary_zero_based_bu_10745.pdf