The New Shoreham School Committee has approved a $5,526,839 budget for fiscal year 2021, an overall increase of $284,046 or 5.4 percent, over the current year.
Although the overall budget increase will be 5.4 percent, the town’s allocation will be less. The budget request asks $203,416 more from the town, an increase of four percent over the current year.
The unanimous 4-0 vote on Monday, Feb. 10, came after weeks of back and forth at budget workshops about how to reduce the scale of an increase to a percentage that the town administration, council and voters would approve. (School Committee member Kara Stinnett was absent.)
Superintendent Michael Convery had earlier recommended cutting a total of $252,202 from the new budget. Two positions were to be eliminated: the Secondary Principal, due to John Canole’s mid-year resignation, and one Special Education Teacher, due to Kathy Martin’s retirement, saving a total of $116,359. Recommended cuts to non-personnel budget lines in that version totaled $98,887.
At the last budget workshop on Feb. 4, School Committee Chair William Padien directed Convery and School Finance Director Melanie Reeves to rework their recommendations and come
