Westerly Public Schools Westerly, Rhode Island 02891 Washington County, USA westerly.k12.ri.us "To create an inspiring, challenging and supportive environment where students are encouraged and assisted in reaching their highest potential.” Fiscal Year July 2016- June 2017 Adopted Westerly Public Schools is committed to presenting a comprehensive budget document to the community. The document includes information in various forms that provide clarity and transparency on the allocation of resources to meet District goals. The District was recognized by The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBOI) for participating in the Pathway to the Meritorious Budget Award Program for the budget year 2015-2016. The FY2017 budget represents an expansion of information from the 2015-2016 budget. The District is committed to the continued development of a budget that represents the criteria set forth by ASBOI. Table of Contents Introductory Section Superintendent’s Letter …………………………………………………………………………………………...……1 Finance Director’s Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………….….3 Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………….……9 District Budget Overview ………………………………………………………………………………………….…13 Strategic Plan 2016-202 ………………………………………………………………………………………………...17 Consultants and Advisors ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 27 Administrative Biographical Information ……………………………………………………………………. …28 Budget Process…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...… 41 Proposed Capital Request …………………………………………………………………………………………… 45 Organizational Section School Building Information …………………………………………………………………………………..………49 Administrative Contact Information ……………………………………………………………………….………50 District Narratives …………………………………………………………………………………………………………51 Building Narratives………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 61 Department Narratives…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 74 Financial Policy ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 78 Financial Section Revenues ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………89 Expenditures………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 92 Fund Balance ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……105 Informational Section Community …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………109 Report to the Community 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………111 Population/Enrollment Forecasts 2016-17 to 2025-26…………………………………………………135 Census Data ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...163 Appendices Teacher Salary and Degree Information………………………………………………………………………..167 Performance Data ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 169 Position Control ……………………………………………...…………………………………………………………171 Statistical Tables………………………………………………………………………………………………………….175 Glossary of Terms and Uniform Chart of Accounts ……………………………………………………....187 INTRODUCTORY SECTION Superintendent’s Letter February 1, 2016 Dear Community Members: We approach the FY17 budget with a plan to reduce reliance on fund balance and to secure our staffing strategies to meet the needs of our students. The following Superintendent’s budget approved by the School Committee on January 14, 2016 is a request for a 1.5% increase in town aid. Westerly Public Schools budget continues to run with a tight margin, leaving little room to respond to those unexpected and unplanned situations that arise every year. To prove the point, we finished last year’s budget with approximately .003% positive operational fund balance. One could argue that finishing with a 0.1% margin is highly efficient and backed by rigorous oversight but it remains a very tight margin. The consolidated finance department continues to be proactive in our budget process and operations. For the second year in a row the budget audit has come in on time and without any findings, a major accomplishment! The budget design uses the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBOI) National Standards for School Budget and Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) as development guides. The goal is to achieve the ASBOI and GFOA award for excellence in budget presentation. Core to the national standards is a budget that has clarity and detail that essentially will allow any person from anywhere to understand what we are doing and how we are paying for the work. We are not just redesigning the presentation of the budget; we have also fully implemented the Uniform Chart of Account expectations, the national standards, and our own aspirations for how the budget should work for us. Our budget has been recognized locally and recently nationally for its quality and transparency. We will continue to pursue this goal. As we go through budget development this year please recall that we took several “acceptable risks” in the finalization of this year’s budget including level funding over 80% of our budget lines. The budget is full of items which involve “acceptable risk” that are as diverse as property and liability insurance deductibles and maximums, self-insured health fund, the amount projected for out of district tuitions, substitute costs, and snow removal budget. Our budget decisions include a net reduction of 3.0 FTE which includes the elimination of the Bradford Elementary School principal position and FTE at the secondary level while keeping our programming commitments in place. Although we have reduced FTE in our recent budget efforts some have expressed the opinion that there should be more reduction. Our student population has gone down. However, increases in program demands, the ever more complex needs of students, and changing demographics of the community mean staffing does not run as a one to one relationship with student population decline. For example, a classroom of 25 students and one teacher could lose 20% of its population moving from 25 down to 20 students and still require all of the adult supports established in the class of 25. Additionally, there are increases in “non-teaching” positions in the district. This is driven by special education priorities, curriculum and instruction priorities, and are all student based. All staffing decisions are set in long term planning. In fact over the last five years we have changed over 240 positions out of our 580 full and part time employees by implementing various strategies that support our district priorities, save money, and expand the pool of expert educators. As we look forward and consider major topics for our budget discussions, several items come to the forefront. The profound tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut continues to influence our planning and spending for the next budget cycle. The School Committee has supported a part time safety officer position that will continue through this budget process. We will continue to employ the “spend down” plan developed last year using the fund balance. Keeping a fund balance at an appropriate and agreed upon level helps the Westerly Public Schools Budget Draft: Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Page 1 Superintendent’s Letter town maintain a Double A bond rating. The mutual cooperation, between the town and the district, continues to help the community remain in a healthy financial status. We must sustain our efforts to respond to the Basic Education Plan (BEP). Several major areas continue to define our future work: (1) elementary school redesign, (2) early childhood, (3) technology, (4) continued work on preventative maintenance and (5) full implementation of our new strategic plan. Elementary schools were part of the original Vision 2020 plan and now that the School Committee has chosen a plan of remodeling and additions to various buildings, the district will move forward with the task of finalizing the process. Along with an emphasis on elementary schools, we will also need to increase our focus on early childhood. As a Future Ready district our technology efforts will focus on several areas all at once. We have added millions of dollars in hardware to the district and these assets will have to be maintained. The improvements of each school over the last year will be continued. The Town Manager has made a recommendation to create a “Gig City” by seeking fiber to residence options for improved technology performance across the entire town. In June 2013 the district made a fiber proposal for all schools so we enthusiastically support the manager’s plan. He may also seek to work with us to create a shared HVAC position that will support both the town and the school district. With the town, we are also examining our insurance arrangements closely and analyzing transportation options for the district and town as exemplified by the new RIPTA route established this fall. As we continue the high level of cooperation between the Town of Westerly and Westerly Public Schools, the strong support of our greater community, and the ever improving performance of our district, we look forward to a positive, innovative and successful year ahead. While our budget process continues to be embedded in unpredictable and challenging financial times, under your leadership, it will lay a positive foundation for the district’s future. The budget supports continuing performance improvements we have seen over the last few years. We look forward to reviewing the budget document with you, the Board of Finance as well as the Town Council, and finally with the citizens of Westerly. Once again, if you have any questions regarding our budget work, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Sincerely, Roy M. Seitsinger, Jr., Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools Page 2 Westerly Public Schools Budget Draft: Fiscal Year 2016-2017