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North Adams Schools Talk Final Budget Numbers for Public Hearing
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
The elementary schools will be phasing in a new math curriculum over the next two years.
The subcommittee is recommending the budget of $20,357,096, up $302,744 or 1.51 percent over this year. This was expected to be funded by $16,418,826 in state Chapter 70 education funds, local funding of $3,938,270 (up $100,000 over this year) and a drawdown of school funds of $575,237. This will also include the closure of Greylock School at the end of this year and the reduction of 26 full-time positions.
A hybrid public hearing on the budget will be held on Thursday, May 23, at 5:30 at Brayton School, with a vote by the School Committee to immediately follow.
The extra $100,000 from the city will likely not be part of this funding package, warned Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee.
"Going through all my process on the city side, so to say, with the rest of my departments, it's going to be really hard for me to squeak out the additional $100,000," said the mayor, alluding to a budget gap of $600,000 to $800,000 for fiscal 2025 she's trying to close.
"I just want to be fully transparent with everyone sitting here, and as your School Committee chair, I don't know if the city budget is going to be able to squeak out that $100,000. That number will most likely change."
Director of School Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher said the $100,000 had been a placeholder with administration understanding that it could change.
The closure was announced on the store's Facebook page late Sunday night, where it immediately drew comments of remembrance and well-wishing.
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Spring arriving in all its raucous and deliberate awakening is heralded by a symphony of vanguard spring peepers, hyla crucifer, that transform the cold and drear into a circus of vivacious trilling. click for more
The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.
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The School Committee will be presented next week with a $20 million spending plan for fiscal 2025 that includes closing Greylock School and a reduction of 26 full-time positions.
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