BEVERLY — City and school officials say they have come up with a temporary fix for the School Department's $415,000 budget shortfall but offered no guarantees that the money problems won't return.
At last night's City Council meeting, city Finance Director John Dunn outlined a patchwork solution that includes such measures as giving the schools $100,000 from the city's free-cash account and postponing a $96,000 repair job on an elevator at Briscoe Middle School.
Dunn said the fix doesn't leave much room for flexibility in the budget. Asked by councilors what will happen if something unexpected happens, Dunn said, "We're in trouble."
Last night's discussion came in response to a presentation by Superintendent Marie Galinski to the City Council last month in which she said the schools are on pace to overspend their budget by $415,000.
The shortfall, Galinski said, came mostly from three areas — special education ($200,000), school choice revenues ($115,000) and unemployment costs ($100,000).
Dunn said he met with Jean Sherburne, the schools' new finance director, to review the school budget and determine possible solutions, and then with Mayor Bill Scanlon.
The review identified potential savings in 17 areas of the school budget of between $117,000 and $190,000 from now until the end of the fiscal year in June.
Ward 1 City Councilor Maureen Troubetaris questioned one of those areas, a potential savings of $15,000 on building maintenance.
"I do not find that a discretionary item, nor does the public," she said. "Years and years go by, and we keep taking from that budget."
But Scanlon said the city is not scrimping on the upkeep of buildings. The consolidation of school and city maintenance operations last year has saved money, he said.
"It does not in any way suggest that we are not doing the maintenance we need to do," Scanlon said.
Ward 3 Councilor Jim Latter asked if the city can afford to give the schools $100,000, considering the high costs of plowing this winter, as well as high police overtime costs.
Dunn said the overtime costs are the result of an unusually high number of injuries on the job to police officers, requiring their shifts to be filled by overtime.
"Yes," Dunn said in response to Latter's question. "But it won't be easy."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.
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