This is a re-post - originally posted in December. Wednesday 5:30 at Doty

The Doty School Board has been working on the budget for the 2015-16 school year. Doty's principal Barbara Anne Komons-Montroll has worked hard to help the board identity a number of options to keep expenses down without negatively impacting student learning.

In recent years, Doty has increased cost efficiency in a variety of ways, including cutting down on bus services, and eliminating unnecessary costs. As you probably know, our small school spends less per pupil than any other school in our district, while offering a wonderful learning environment for Worcester's children. This is rare in small schools, where per pupil costs tend to be higher than in larger schools. We on the board are very proud of the school, and committed to ensuring Worcester's kids get the best possible education.

Last year, the board was pleased to bring the town a budget with an overall increase of less than 1%. Unfortunately, this year's budget outlook is more difficult. While some grant funding is decreasing, the school faces added expenses that cannot be avoided. Funding "level services" this year would have resulted in a substantial budget increase.

The board is committed to balance our responsibility to Worcester's taxpayers with our commitment to a great education for Worcester's kids. We are looking at a number of decreases in spending, to offset necessary increases. These include decreasing the maintenance and special education staff as well as the Spanish program. Because of shifts in student needs and personnel structures, the only cut that we expect to negatively impact student learning would be the cut to the Spanish program, from 2 days/week to 1. It is difficult to contemplate cutting foreign language education at a time when this type of education is becoming ever more critical in many career paths. We need to hear from all of you to inform our work.

The Doty board meets again on January 14th at 5:30 at the school. Please contact any board member, or come to the January meeting, to share your thoughts with us and join in this critical conversation. We are community volunteers who serve at your will. We are also your relatives, neighbors and friends. We strive to represent all of you, and Worcester's children.

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