The School Department spread the word early last summer and students and families throughout the region got the message: There’s a lot to like about education in Amesbury.
Officials revealed during Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting that, for the first time since becoming part of the School Choice program in 1996, Amesbury is in the black. With 131 students coming in to the community’s schools compared to 112 leaving for other districts, Amesbury realized a positive cash flow of $94,355 for this fiscal year. That’s a turnaround of approximately $265,000 from FY06 when Amesbury paid out $171,000 more than it took in.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Chaurette said Wednesday afternoon that school officials were aware of the positive numbers in September but “you don’t know if those are real or not until they are verified by the Department of Education.”
That verification came Tuesday and Chaurette said officials were predictably thrilled.
“I think Amesbury has become an attractive alternative. While there was turmoil during the budget process in other communities, we went through a reasonable, rational process. We were able to maintain our (user) fees at a low level and kept our class sizes at the same level.
“The key is always having a budget that is adequate to supporting what you’re trying to get done. We got support from the School Committee, Municipal Council and the mayor and we got a budget that we could work with,” he said.
Dr. Chaurette said a $500 expenditure on an aggressive regional advertising campaign last summer paid off.
“We advertised locally because the rates were reasonable. For the return rate we got on each dollar spent, we’re just delighted,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve been ahead of the game and it’s really helped us to stay ahead of some costs in areas such as Special Education that we didn’t anticipate.”
Amesbury’s history with the school choice program has never been good. For example, 167 students left in 2003 while a meager 105 arrived in 2005. However, Chaurette said officials began to sense a change the past couple of years when the district hit “rock bottom” for the numbers of students leaving.
Dr. Chaurette cited the reasonable operating budget and application of a business metric to operation of the School Department as keys to keeping momentum moving forward. He said completion of the high school building project is an important element of the big picture approach.
“The town has shown its commitment to providing a first-class environment for its students with the renovation projects at the Middle School and the Cashman School. When the high school comes on line, we could see a dramatic change because we’ll be able to offer a state-of-the-art facility. I think people who are leaving now because of the split campus (freshmen are housed at the middle school) will re-think their options. The new high school will have as much impact on those who choice out as those who choice in,” Chaurette said.
Salary extensions for top officials
The School Committee voted to extend Dr. Chaurette’s contract an additional three years, expiring in 2009, and Assistant Superintendent David Jack’s contract five years, expiring in 2011. Included with the extensions are compensation increases that will raise the salaries to a mid-range level relative to other communities in the state.
“The contracts are about retaining talent, and staying competitive,” said School Committee Chairman, Mayor Thatcher Kezer, in a prepared statement on Wednesday.
To bring Amesbury’s compensation package to a more competitive level, the committee agreed to increase both base salary and annuity contributions resulting in increases of $30,219 over three years for Chaurette, and $21,745 over five years for Jack. A $3,000 annual travel reimbursement Chaurette received for school-related business outside of Amesbury was eliminated.
With the new contracts Chaurette’s base salary will be adjusted to $131,490 for the current fiscal year, $140,750 for fiscal year 2008, and $146,222 for fiscal year 2009 respectively. Jack’s base salary will adjust to $101,500, $107,552, $111,317, $115,213, and $119,245 for fiscal years 2007 through 2011. Total cost from both contracts will result in a 0.002 percent impact on a school budget, which currently exceeds $22.5 million.
“The School Committee recognizes that paying upfront for high quality professionals is worth it in the long run. Having the right people making smart decisions saves much more money than the increased cost of their contracts,” said Mayor Kezer.