School Board Discusses Budget Deadline

A school board member will discuss this idea with selectmen: changing their deadline in Westborough's charter.

School committee members want selectmen to consider supporting changing their budget deadline in Westborough’s charter. The current schedule requires school officials to begin budget preparation as the school year starts, and hold a budget public hearing during the holiday season, Chairman Ilyse Levine-Kanji says. The board voted unanimously this past Wednesday night to have a member discuss the charter change idea with the board of selectmen. The charter, found here, includes the following budget provision. “No less than ten (10) days before the end of the calendar year, or not less than ninety (90) days prior to the date of the start of the Annual Town Meeting, whichever is later, the Town Manager shall submit to the Board of Selectmen …

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Stephen Faris

10:34 am on Sunday, December 23, 2012

Hi this is Steve again. Sorry for the last sentence above. I should have said, "we do not want 200-300 people to control our taxes". Yet that is exactly what happens at town meeting. We need a citizens petition to tell our leadership we have had enough. We want good schools but we as a town can not afford excessive salary benefits. Dr.Gary Shilling a noted economist on Wall Street says: "Public …   more ›

Residents Offer School Funding Ideas

The suggestions came during Wednesday night's school budget public hearing.

Community members Wednesday night suggested addressing school funding issues through teacher salary cuts, ads on school buses and athletics uniforms, and fundraisers. Some parents also commented on talk of a school transportation fee to raise a projected $240,000 in revenue. The ideas came during the school committee’s budget public hearing. The board voted to seek a budget of $42,694,208, a 3.07 percent increase, next year. Residents spoke for about 30 minutes total. Chairman Ilyse Levine-Kanji said the board’s policy is to allow each speaker three minutes. “It’s nice to see so many people here this evening,” she said. Ruggles Street resident Steve Faris said he had “looked at the school budget for about six months, trying to figure out …

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School Board Supports 3.07% Increase

The vote came after Wednesday night's school budget public hearing.

The Westborough School Committee voted Wednesday night to seek a 3.07 percent budget increase next year, which is less than the 3.67 percent initially recommended by Superintendent Marianne O'Connor. The $42,694,208 request does not include a new school transportation fee. However, some school board members said the fee of $200 per student, with a $500 family cap, remains an option if voters don't approve the school budget at the March 16 annual town meeting. The fee would apply to students in grades seven to 12, and students in Kindergarten to grade six residing within two miles of their school. School officials say such a fee potentially could generate $240,000 for the schools. The board voted after its budget public hearing, which …

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Dec. 8

Give yourself a little extra time to commute this morning.

  Each morning, Westborough Patch presents “5 Things You Need to Know,” a collection of announcements, events and reminders to help you organize your day.   1. The moderate to heavy rain this morning may cause localized flooding. The Massachusetts State Police caution morning drivers to go slowly, leave extra space between moving vehicles and avoid driving through standing water and large puddles. If you need assistance for an emergency, call 911 on your cell phone to be connected to the State Police communications center. 2. You can be part of a national Thank You note to the troops by visiting a new website from the USO. Thanks From Everywhere is an Internet campaign organized by the USO. Anyone can go to the website and leave a message …

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School Budget Plan Wounded by State Cuts

Superintendent proposes eliminating services and implementing fees to make up for the lost money.

  At its meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, the Westborough School Committee heard the sobering facts about the FY13 school budget from Superintendent Marianne O’Connor. Her message about the proposed budget was clear: the bottom line will increase by between 2.5 and 5 percent and cuts will continue to gnaw away at the school district, surely affecting the standards by which the district has been operating. “To say that curriculum, instruction, programs, co-curricular offerings and personnel will remain the same next year will be misleading,” she said. The biggest blow to the budget came from the state. Approximately $675,000 of state money that once supplemented the Westborough school budget will not be available in the coming year, creating a…

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Public Hearing on School Budget Takes Place Tonight

Residents who have concerns about the school budget will have an opportunity to get involved in the budgeting process at the School Committee meeting tonight.

The Westborough School Committee meets at 6 p.m. in Room 23 of the Forbes Municipal Building. The meeting is free and open to the public. The public agenda is listed below. All times and agenda items are tentative.  6:00 p.m.: Call to order, approval of minutes for March 23 6:05 p.m.: Superintendent’s report and highlights 6:15 p.m.: Committee requests and reports 6:30 p.m.: Citizens’ requests 6:35 p.m.: Reports 7:35 p.m.: Public budget hearing 8:05 p.m.: Executive session (this portion of the meeting is not open to the public) for the purpose of discussion of upcoming negotiations and approval of executive session minutes 9:05 p.m.: Bills 9:10 p.m.: Adjournment

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