ORANGE — The Orange elementary schools have suggested a roughly 6.7 percent budget increase for next year, but they might not get it.
Wednesday evening, the Orange Selectboard approved warrant articles to be voted on at the June 18 annual town meeting.
Noticeably absent from the approved articles, however, were specific budget numbers, as the Finance Committee has yet to finish its final recommended budget, and has discussed cutting another $60,000 from the elementary schools’ proposed budget. The Finance Committee will meet Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall.
The schools — Fisher Hill Elementary School and Dexter Park Innovation School — have so far proposed a $6,375,680 budget, an increase over this year’s $5,972,563 budget.
The Finance Committee has already suggested 5 percent cuts for noneducational departments’ expenses in town, and 6 percent to police expenses. The school may need to trim its budget further, Leger said.
“We’re trying to treat every department equally and we’re hoping that’s fair,” said Finance Committee member Anthony Leger at Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting.
Leger also added that the schools maybe should be given some leniency when it comes to budget cuts, because of the importance of education.
Orange Elementary School Committee Chairwoman Stephanie Conrod has been clear that the increase is due to increasing costs, and the schools have already been making cuts to pay those costs.
Costs of special education are increasing, while enrollment is declining, and certain expenses, like contractual pay increases for staff, are unavoidable.
One of the cuts suggested would eliminate a few class sections at Fisher Hill — and, therefore, cut a few teachers — which would increase class sizes to 23 to 24 students.
“When you look at a budget like $5.9 million at the elementary schools, or $4 million at Mahar, people look at them and say, ‘Those are huge numbers, you can trim them,’” Conrod said. “But that’s really not the case. How do we educate the public and, pardon my French, get them to give a crap about the town of Orange?”
Conrod said the schools should not have to make any more cuts, which could be detrimental to students’ education.
“Every year it’s cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts,” she said.