Burlington Schools Make Clerical Staff, Clubs And Busing Cuts

BURLINGTON, MA — The Burlington School Committee approved $350,000 in budget cuts at their Oct. 13 meeting, as part of over $2 million in coronavirus-related municipal budget reductions.

Fall town meeting voters approved $2.1 million in cuts, to account for falling local receipts.

The school cuts were mostly one-year cuts that the virus made possible, Superintendent Eric Conti explained, but $48,000 came in the form of permanent savings in clerical salaries achieved by a reorganization of those positions.

Some positions were merged and some staff retired, reducing the total number of positions. Some salaries were increased.

"There were cost savings there, with no degradation in service and performance," Conti said.

The remainder came from various short-term cuts. The district is saving 10 days of busing due to the shortened school year. Other savings come from cutting some fall sports busing, cutting late buses at the high school level and not needing a separate afternoon kindergarten bus run.

Similarly, the district is saving money on athletics costs, from the shortened seasons, as well as stipends for activities and clubs that can't operate this year.

Other savings came from vision and hearing screenings, which the district is not running this year.

The school committee approved the cuts unanimously. The district has a $200,000 budget surplus, Conti said, versus around $1 million at the same time last year.

"We are virtually breaking even now, in October, which is not a good place to be," Conti said.

The full meeting is available here from BCAT.

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