Silent Auction Postponed to Fall 2016

SILENT AUCTION POSTPONED AMID DISTRICT BUDGET PROPOSAL’S IMPACT TO NES

Late last week, after much discussion, the PTA board decided to postpone our Annual Silent Auction event scheduled for Saturday, March 19th. This was a difficult decision, but one we felt was prudent given the current proposed FY 17 district school budget and the impact it will have on NES if approved. We are working to secure a new date for this fun and important fundraising event later this year and will be sending that information to you soon, but felt a postponement of such an event would be best.

To help families understand our decision, we felt it was important to convey the impact the TRSD’s proposed budget will have on NES. We also want to provide information on ways that families can learn more about the district proposal as well as help the school committee, district and our students get the necessary state assistance it will need to prevent these proposed cuts and changes.

If the current proposed budget is approved, NES will be impacted during the 2016-17 school year in the following ways:

Two full-time teacher positions will be eliminated at NES.
The Elementary IT and Library/Media teacher positions will be combined. This will impact the number of technology and library classes for the students. The exact schedule has yet to be determined. (This will happen in all three district elementary schools)
The current staffing of one dedicated full-time Math Specialist per elementary school, whose role is to support both staff and students with the math curriculum, will be cut to one shared full-time staff for all three elementary schools.

As this is only the current proposed budget, should the school committee choose to decrease the overall budget amount, additional cuts will have to be made. It is important to note that at this point in the budget approval process the amount of money in the proposed budget CANNOT be increased. It can, however, be decreased and/or have the spending within the line items of the proposed budget adjusted. All of the schools in our district are facing cuts in the proposed budget. To see the proposal in detail, please visit www.tritonschools.org/district/triton-district-budget/.

There are two major components the school committee is dealing with that have resulted in their need to propose cuts:

Insufficient transportation funding: When our schools were regionalized in 1994, the state promised to reimburse 100% of the costs for transportation each year. However, for the past several years that has not happened. Next year the state is proposing to only cover 60-65% of those costs. That will leave a $350,000 deficit that must be funded by the member towns.
Proposed state decrease of Chapter 70 funding: Under Chapter 70, the state currently provides funding to the district of $25/student, but under the state’s new proposal, that number will decrease to $20/student. The problem the board faces is that while the state funding decreases, the state and national requirements of educational services for our children increases. As a result, the member towns must come up with more funding.

The school committee and DCC have drafted a letter detailing the above mentioned state funding concerns and what they need from the state to ensure current and future cuts can be avoided and that the current financial impact on member towns can be decreased. The letter & contact information can be found below. If you would like your opinions and/or concerns regarding the impact the state’s proposed budget will have on our school heard, please use that letter or draft your own, and contact our state representatives and senators. Their contact information is contained within the letter.

The NES PTA is proud of our school, and we will continue to support our wonderful teachers and staff. Most importantly, we will work hard to continue to provide programs and support for our children that will enrich their educational experience at Newbury Elementary. We hope you understand our reasons for postponing the Silent Auction event until later in the year.

Sincerely,

The NES PTA Board

NES PTA_Letter to State- Word Doc

NES PTA_Letter to State – PDF