March 29, 2024

Possible Increase in 2024 Seekonk School Budget

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The Seekonk Public Schools 2024 budget may need to be increased over the current fiscal year’s budget of $30.8 million, according to Superintendent Rich Drolet.

“As you know, this year we are putting together a combination of a level-service and needs-based budget,” Drolet said at Monday’s school committee meeting.  “Last week, Ms. (District Business Administrator Jill) Brilhante and I finished up meeting with all principals and department heads. Based on the requests coming in, we expect to ask the town to support additional funding based on needs in the following areas:

  • Special education out-of-district costs. There is a state-wide projected 10-15 percent increase in special education out-of-district tuition cost increases.
  • Transportation. Transportation costs will go up as we need to add another bus, which is primarily for the middle school.
  • Technology. We’ve used Covid grant monies to pay for our technology infrastructure upgrade, but we need to continue to purchase new Chromebook computers for our 1:1 program, as well as purchase software programs to support student learning (Covid monies paid for much of our new software programs for the past 3 years)
  • Rising energy costs. Costs of both gas and electricity have increased significantly of late.
  • New positions. We seek to add a handful of new positions, all except one (additional School Resource Officer) related to special education and meeting the needs of our students, most notably at the lower elementary level.

Drolet also congratulated Suzanne Larson, Seekonk High School’s Library Media Specialist, for recently being chosen to serve as a Southeast Area Co-Director on the 2022-2023 Executive Board of the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA).

“MSLA is comprised of certified school library teachers across Massachusetts,” Drolet noted. “The Executive Board plans professional development opportunities, hosts a two-day conference in March, and the association has taken on a leadership role in supporting library teachers to ensure our students’ first amendment rights to read remains intact. The organization has also partnered with the Department of Elementary and Second Education (DESE) to advance the goal for every student to have access to an excellent school library. Mrs. Larson is a leader among her peers and I applaud her efforts both inside and outside of the Seekonk High School Library.”

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