LISBON — The School Committee on Monday reviewed a first draft of the 2016-17 budget that included money for another teacher at Lisbon Community School and a second social worker to help with 12 homeless students.
Lisbon School Department Superintendent Richard Green attributed most of the increases or decreases to changes in salaries and benefits. The budget is $654,167 more than this fiscal year and does not include subsidies from the capital reserve account, undesignated fund account or energy savings from the guaranteed performance contract, he said.
Some of the larger increases included adding a teaching position at Lisbon Community School, which was cut from the current budget. The position is necessary to maintain the schools’s educational program, Principal Robert Kahler said.
A second social worker position was also added in the elementary education line. The social worker is dealing with 12 homeless students, Green said.
Allen Ouellette, director of operations and transportation, told the committee the department had been approved for two buses for next year, including a handicap bus that was cut from the current budget. The cost of the debt service on the buses is included in the $90,883 increase in the transportation line proposed for 2016-17.
The Special Education Department is also facing needs that will call for a major increase to its budget, mostly due to out-of-district placement, Special Education Director John H. Merrifield said.
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