Weston Finance Committee questions schools on staffing as enrollment falls

WESTON — March 7, 2019 — Weston Finance Committee presses schools to match staffing cuts to falling enrollment. At a March 7 budget presentation, member John McConnell challenged Superintendent Midge Connolly and new Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Sherry Matthews on why a projected 49-student drop at the high school yields only one proposed FTE reduction, arguing the math points to closer to 3.5. Matthews described the FY20 proposal as "close to a level-funded budget," with a 3.84 percent steps-and-lanes salary line and roughly 83 percent of the increase tied to people costs. The district will also reduce at least one Field School section, valued at $76,149 in salary plus roughly $16,000 in benefits, with a second possible. School Committee Chair John Henry conceded the committee "pegged around one as a starting point" but said course-selection data would drive further cuts. Member James Jarrett noted Weston's per-pupil gap with peer towns equals "an entire Town Center thing every year."