The Andover School Committee got its first look at a preliminary budget for the 2023-24 school year that includes a big increase in special education spending and an increase to add buses to address some of this year’s transportation problems.
Andover Public Schools Superintendent Magda Parvey made her preliminary budget recommendation for the 2023-24 school year, based on Town Manager Andrew Flanagan’s recommendation town meeting increase the district’s budget 3.5 percent to $99.6 million budget, to the committee at its meeting Thursday night.
“I can say with confidence that we, as a team, have really been scrutinizing the requests and following the same guidance we provided to our leaders last year, which is ‘Before you ask us for something new, let us know what you can give up, repurpose or use differently, so we can redistribute the resources we have in the district’,” Parvey said. “That’s where we look — using our staff to the best of our ability and making sure we’re providing program and quality where the need is greatest.”
The preliminary budget includes $79.9 million for personnel. Aside from a $1.4 million for step increases for teachers, other big line item increases include $2.7 million for special education tuition expenses and $310,000 for transportation.
Parvey said she would offer the school committee a more detailed breakdown of an increase to $7.8 million from $5.1 million this year for total special education increases — which include legal settlements — at a future meeting. The increase could be offset by as much as $1.5 million in “strategic use of the circuit breaker option,” Parvey said.
The district estimates class size for students in grades 1-5 will grow in the 2023-24 school year to an average of 20.1 students per class from 19.2 students per class this year. The average kindergarten class size is increasing slightly, from 21 students this year to 21.2 students next year.
In addition to the local funding, the district expects $12.5 million in state aid, up from $12.2 million this year. That number will not be finalized until incoming Gov. Maura Healey finalizes her budget and submits it to the state legislature for deliberation. “We can approximate as we have pretty much stayed the same in regards to those numbers,” Parvey said.
Parvey said her staffing recommendations are aimed at addressing learning gaps, offering targeted support to schools and departments, professional learning and curriculum development and support for special education students.
The budget presentation begins at 1:13:55 in the meeting video below.
Video of Dec. 15 school committee meeting from Andover TV