Burlington Schools Face Potential $350,000 Cut

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington school officials are preparing for potential budget cuts as the school year gets underway with new complexities, they told the School Committee at their Tuesday meeting. Town officials are seeking to cut $350,000 from the Fiscal Year 2021 budget for the school district, among other cuts, at the town's Sept. 30 Town Meeting.

Superintendent Eric Conti said that the school year presents significant financial challenges already, including additional hiring, purchasing PPE, and bus space limitations. But the town is facing a multi-million dollar budget shortfall due to local receipts collapsing during the pandemic.

School Committee members worried this the cut could present a larger challenge to the schools than to town departments.

The committee also approved Conti's draft calendar, which has June 14 as the last day for students. Communications with the full calendar are expected soon.

The Committee also heard reports on reopening from Conti and student representative Sarah Shaikh on reopening, after the first few days. Conti shared updated enrollment numbers: about 400 elementary school students, almost a quarter, are remote, versus 130 high school students and 138 middle school students. The district has 26 new permanent or interim teachers, to cover all learning models.

The full meeting is available here from BCAT.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.