BCAT News

With the spring season in full swing, the budgeting season in Burlington has also begun. Town Administration has begun presenting the town’s budget step by step to the Select Board to get their approval for each department’s budget. This includes BHS’s budget as well as other schools in the town.

As of right now, most of the funding (about 90%) goes into payroll for school staff, custodians, and administrators. Otherwise, it would go into research purposes.

Richard Sheehan, assistant principal at BHS, weighs in on the research purposes that have funding put into them, and says a big part of the research they do is on curriculum, as well as the programs run in the school. He also adds that while he is not totally certain, a small part of the research could be on the structure of the building.

In the process of deciding the school budget for next year, department heads typically submit their budget. This would cover classroom materials and any annual expenses made. Then, the overall budget for the school would be decided from there.

“It’s a numbers game every year,” said Mark Sullivan, Principal at BHS, when asked about how the town decides school funding every year.

Typically, the town of Burlington will allocate a certain amount of funding for the schools in the district every year. Oftentimes, it is a certain percentage of an increase. However, Mr. Sullivan adds that schools are asked to come in with the same budget as the previous year, for the sake of consistency and in the case of a decrease. In the unlikely event of a decrease in funding, BHS would have to look at other ways to make up that money on their own. 

Despite the potential increases or decreases in the budget, there has not been much of a change in the budget the school has each year. Mr. Sheehan remarks that there’s usually minimal changes and follows a very consistent pattern, while also doing their best at addressing student needs as they arise.

Although, as the year goes on and inflation increases, there may be a slight increase in the budget. This is largely due to the fact that classroom essentials, such as paper and pencils, as well as electricity and even faculty professional development have risen in cost.

“In the plan, you build in expected increases,” Sheehan concluded while discussing any changes he has noticed in the budget over the years.

According to Mr. Sullivan, Burlington is fortunate to not have to deal with dramatic decreases in funding, compared to other towns such as Melrose, that were previously asked to cut about 4 million dollars from their budget.

In a hypothetical situation, if the town of Burlington’s funding was dramatically reduced, programs such as art, music, and athletics would be cut to add more money to the budget. Core subjects such as English, math, science, and history aren’t allowed to be cut as that Massachusetts Department of Education require them to graduate. Even so, positions in each department can be reduced to make up that money.

“Burlington does not seek to make budget cuts of any kind. I feel fortunate that we are in Massachusetts where school funding is prioritized,” said Melissa Massardo, vice chair of the BHS school committee, when asked about the possibility of a budget decrease.

According to Massardo, the current inflationary climate will bring harm to school and town budgets and could directly affect students in the long run.

Overall, the town of Burlington’s school budget is very steady and this budgeting season, along with many others to come, will continue helping students have the best learning experience possible.