Pittsfield School Committee Sees $72M Budget for FY23

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee on Wednesday got a first look at the proposed $72 million school budget for fiscal 2023.  

The budget of $72,398,262 is a 7.56 percent, or $5,086,562, increase from this year. Most of the increase is in contractual obligations.

There will be a School Committee budget workshop on Monday and, later that day, a joint meeting with the City Council followed by a public hearing for the budget on Wednesday.

"You'll notice a large amount of the increase is contractual obligations according to current agreements with the [Pittsfield Educational Administrators' Association], the [United Educators of Pittsfield] and proposed with the [American Federation of Teachers]," Superintendent Joseph Curtis explained when student representative William Garrity queried him about the increase.

"So that contractual increase is not typical."

Within the budget is $1,958,347 for administration, $55,762,847 for instructional, $4,523,341 for other school services, $6,372,746 for operations and maintenance, $472,358 for fixed costs, $68,074 for adult learning, $234,047 for acquisition of fixed assets, and $3,626,502 for tuition payments.

With $570,000 in school choice revenues and $50,000 in Richmond tuition revenues, the total budget amounts to $73,018,262.


During executive session, the committee discussed and voted on bargaining agreements with the Local 1315 AFT that includes bus drivers and attendants, cafeteria workers, custodians, paraprofessionals, and educational secretaries.

At the beginning of the meeting, the room was filled with AFT members advocating for an increase in wages. There was testimony from bus drivers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, and parents about the demanding duties of their jobs and the need for better compensation.

"Tonight I'm here to say I'm angry, very angry, I'm angry that today we're no closer to settling this contract than we were seven months ago, I'm angry because me, my staff, and co-workers continuously, we're short-staffed because we cannot get employees to work at this wage," cafeteria worker Debi Rooney said.

"I'm angry because the [cafeteria] keeps losing very good longtime employees because of the low pay, I'm angry because when we're short-staffed, I'm told, 'Well you might have to just cut things off the menu' and who does that affect? That hurts the children," she said.

"Why should I not feed them the full menu because I don't have enough employees to get the food out that’s on the menu?  I'm angry because you say you don't have the money to pay us a livable wage, but we all know that's a big fat lie, it's a big, fat lie."

Rooney added that the work the AFT members do matters and they demand to be paid the living wage they are asking for.


Tags: fiscal 2023,   pittsfield_budget,   school budget,   

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Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.

This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.

Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.

If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.

Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.

Robert E.W. Collins
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

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