Superintendent of Schools Dr. Judith Lundsten has presented her budget for the 2015-16 school year, beginning the process of examination and approval by the public.

A first of many budget meetings is planned for this Thursday, Jan. 29, at Western Hills Middle School at 6 p.m.

As Lundsten considers her request for $146,207,657 for the coming year, she said she feels that after a very difficult financial period for Cranston in recent years, the district is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

“The district is really moving forward,” she said. “The School Committee and myself want to see programming returning to where it was, and even better.”

Lundsten said that as she considered this year’s budget, she was often reminded by district Chief Financial Officer Joe Balducci that every decision she made would have a financial impact, and so she was quite purposeful in the choices she made.

“Our strategic plan has been making good progress and it, too, has financial goals in it,” she said. “What I’ve proposed for the budget will continue to move our district forward and to support student learning, and frankly, learning for teachers, too.”

Now that Lundsten has presented her proposed budget, it will be scrutinized by the school committee and the public – a process for which the superintendent said she is prepared.

“I am looking for some frank conversation about why we put in the programming we did, as well as the money for supplies, equipment and transportation, and how that matches up to our vision,” she said. “The school committee, along with the community, will ask those questions and I suspect that there will be some changes made prior to our presentation to the City Council and the mayor, who will also scrutinize and ask good questions.”

Asked whether or not she worries about being questioned by the mayor and council regarding the validity of the needs being addressed in the new budget, Lundsten said she is optimistic.

“When we were looking for approval for the [$15 million school building improvement] bond from the mayor and City Council, they asked questions and listened to our information and the data regarding the present conditions of the buildings. We even took the mayor and a few folks out on tours to see the buildings. They were very positive in supporting our efforts,” she said. “My hope is that they will once again listen and understand our needs, listen to our community and to all of the stakeholders, and approve the budget.”

Lundsten did say she worries about having to make reductions in terms of what is included in the budget plan.

“It’s going to be hard to decide where to cut,” she said.

In her budget summary document, Lundsten stated, “Without additional funding, beyond the current maintenance of effort, we will be faced with a $1,832,597 shortfall. This will have a drastic and immediate impact on our classrooms, our students and our teachers.”

Lundsten gave one example of an item that could be questioned by those examining the budget – the request for athletic trainers for the athletic programs – and explained the thought process behind that request.

“In our strategic plan, number four has to do with the wellness and safety of our students,” Lundsten said. “We want to keep all of our kids well, safe and healthy, and given all we’re learning about serious injuries, especially about things like concussions, this is part of how we’re addressing that.”

Lundsten spoke of several budget items that address the return of previously cut programming in schools, including middle school sports and a sixth-grade elementary music program. 

“We’re hoping to add in middle school sports, and that expands the number of kids and coaches on the field. This will enhance our three, already great middle schools,” she said. “This extra programming will keep our kids healthy and engaged.”

By implementing an elementary music program at the sixth-grade level, Lundsten hopes to rebuild a declining secondary music program.

“At the spring music concerts, I saw many empty seats, and a lack of musical instruments. Players from [Cranston High School] West were sent over to [Cranston High School] East to play in their concert because they didn’t have enough students to play,” she said. “The chorus concerts were packed with kids, but even as I walked into the music rooms at West during classes one day, where four years ago there would’ve been chairs pushed to the back of the room so that Mr. Montanaro could fit all the students, now only half the room was filled. This was a subtle indication of the impact of a lack of music programs at the elementary level.”

Lundsten also noted that even beyond keeping students engaged at the elementary and secondary levels, post-secondary schools look for students who are involved in music when reviewing applications.

“Lots of colleges, especially the engineering programs, will look to see if kids have music in their background. There’s definitely a connection there,” she said.

Lundsten explained that although there is no mention of moving the sixth grade back to the middle schools in the coming year’s budget, that if that did happen in the future, it would follow that the elementary music program would then be implemented at the fifth-grade level.

Other funding in the budget proposal is targeted toward continued improvements to facilities and the district’s fleet of buses.

“We have a new facilities manager now, and we have the bond to make improvements, but this budget will help us to make additional improvements both safety improvements and improvements to plant maintenance and repairs. We’ll start to see improvements that are visible and those that are not so visible, like new boilers for example. You can’t necessarily see those,” she said. “I believe that the environment we put our students in makes a difference, and it’s part of the message we’re sending to our parents, our students and our teachers.”

Balducci mentioned the $500,000 Capital Improvements Fund has made a big difference in getting some of the smaller projects accomplished.

“We don’t have to necessarily wait for the time it takes for a multi-million dollar bond to pass to do some of the smaller projects. We get the approval for a project, spend the money up front and receive 52 cents on the dollar in housing aid reimbursement once we’ve submitted the paperwork to the state,” he said. “We hope to be able to make future contributions to that fund, all depending on the budget from one year to the next.”

Lundsten stated that improvements would continue to be made with the district’s bus fleet.

“This year we purchased nine good, used, large buses and 15 brand new, small buses,” she said. “In 2015, we want to purchase 10 good, used large buses and 14 small, new buses, and that plan goes out over five years. The buses that are the small, new buses are five-year leases, so the lease payment has already been purchased.”

Lundsten emphasized that these purchases are in line with the district’s focus on both safety and efficiency.

“We also have new technology routing software for the routes to make sure they are safe. Training with that software is being done now,” she said.

Other positive news in the budget includes the fact that what would have been the district’s final, $1.5 million payment to the city under the so-called “Caruolo debt” has been forgiven.

“Both the mayor and the City Council approved [forgiveness of] the last payment,” Balducci said. “There had been a city credit worth $1 million based on the future sale of the former police building, and then there were four annual installments of approximately $1.5 million each.”

Lundsten also requested a 10-percent increase in funding to start rebuilding the funds to replace educational equipment at the schools, as well as to replace the formerly cut allocations for every student for items such as paper, pencils, construction paper, and paint. 

“Many years ago, that account was cut,” she said.

Both Balducci and Lundsten said great effort was taken in preparing the budget plan for the coming year, and that care was taken to manage the budget first before asking for additional monies.

“The executive committee working with me has made every effort to be completely transparent and thoughtful about the needs of the educational community. We have made every attempt to provide the necessary information and as we receive additional input, we will share it with the school community and you,” Lundsten wrote in her budget summary. “While the financial situation facing our community is challenging, I trust we can have a healthy discourse about these important issues. It is in this spirit that will shape our budget deliberations for the next school year. We will be faced with difficult decisions that will require rich discussions. I am confident we are all committed to ensuring success for all students and supporting our teachers and administrators.”

Anyone wishing to view the proposed budget or the superintendent’s presentation can visit the “Fiscal Transparency” section of the district’s website, www.cpsed.net.