Cohasset Schools Face $790,000 Budget Shortfall, Implement Spending Freeze
District Explores Cost-Saving Measures, Awaits Financial Risk Analysis
COHASSET - December 4 - Cohasset Public Schools are grappling with a budget shortfall of approximately $790,000, prompting officials to implement a spending freeze as of Nov. 1.
The deficit, which has grown since initial projections, is attributed to several factors including state tuition, utilities, transportation, facilities, supplies, materials, and salaries.
Susan Owen, Director of Finance and Operations, outlined the situation at a recent school committee meeting. "As of today, the school budget is about $790,000 [short]," Owen said. "We can see the same areas of concern: state tuition, utilities, transportation, facilities, supplies, materials, and salaries."
To address the shortfall, the district has taken several steps. In addition to the spending freeze, Cohasset has contracted with Open Architects to provide a financial risk analysis, expected to be completed shortly after the winter holidays.
Other cost-saving measures include not filling a recently vacated part-time custodian position at the high school, saving approximately $12,000. A half-time reading specialist position was filled at a lower pay grade, resulting in about $5,000 in savings.
The district is also benefiting from a bus driver on loan to South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School, which is expected to save Cohasset about $15,000 for half a year.
Despite these efforts, Owen cautioned that the shortfall could still grow due to unpredictable expenses such as substitute teacher costs and overtime for snow removal.
"The number is going to change," Owen explained. "When we say it's a hard freeze, there are some things [that] still have to go through. I had the two elementary schools ask for paper. They're just about out of paper. I can't deny them paper."
School Committee member Ted Carr emphasized the importance of the upcoming town meeting in addressing the budget issues. "We need parents to come and vote on important items here to help us invest in our schools," Carr said.
In a separate development, the school committee approved a comprehensive curriculum mapping and benchmark assessment initiative aimed at improving educational outcomes.
Rock Roberts, Director of Data, Curriculum and Evaluation, presented the plan, which seeks to align curriculum across grades, create standardized benchmarks, and improve instructional decisions based on student performance data.
"Our goal coming into this year was that we would have completed curriculum maps and by the end of this year that they would be vertically and horizontally aligned, and that every department would have created and implemented at least one benchmark assessment," Roberts explained.
The initiative involves drafting and revising curriculum maps to ensure alignment with state standards and frameworks. These maps will serve as the foundation for creating benchmark assessments, which Roberts described as "a tool to see where our kids are in terms of what we're teaching, and are they on track."
Roberts emphasized the importance of these assessments in informing instruction and measuring student growth. "They help ensure this alignment so that our programs are tight, that we're moving in the right direction, so the kids are in a kind of K through 12 system and not one year to the next year," he said.
The district plans to have departments working on benchmark assessments throughout the year, with a presentation of benchmarks scheduled for March. By the end of the academic year, the goal is to have implemented pilot assessments and revised them based on feedback.
School Committee Chair Craig MacLellan stressed the importance of monitoring this process. "I would like to keep this in front of the committee because it's really... this drives at the heart of what we do," MacLellan said.