Revere School Committee Approves $164.3M Budget Amid Enrollment Decline

By Barbara Taormina

The School Committee approved a balanced $164,257,800 budget at their meeting this week.

It has been a long and difficult budget season for the committee, which started working on the numbers in January. The committee began with a $9.1million deficit, due primarily to a decrease in enrollment. The Revere student population has declined by 323 students this year, which triggers a $6 million cut in state financial support.

The committee voted to use $2.6 million from the district’s reserve fund. Committee members acknowledged that they need to track spending carefully because they anticipate new costs next year with the new high school and the McKinley Early Education Center.

The committee voted on spending divided into series of what District Business Manager Matthew Kruse called cost centers. The first was administration. The committee approved spending $3,488,928 on administrative costs. Instructional services, the biggest piece of the budget, was approved at $86,189,104. The committee voted to approve $12,850,363 for other student services. The plant and operations budget was approved at $10,525,512. The committee approved $2,228,938 for insurance and benefits and $103,000 for capital investments. Out of district tuition was approved at $17,558,739.

Committee Chair Jacqueline Monterroso took a moment to sum up the work on the budget. She compared Revere to other districts, noting the city was one of the few not grappling with deficits and layoffs. She mentioned that Boston was facing hundreds of layoffs.

“When you break it down, we have less than 25 layoffs here,” she said. She also noted that many teachers had voiced their concerns and had been part of the process.

But Revere Teachers Association President Jane Chapin disagreed. “Teachers feel their voices have been absent from budget discussions and decisions,” said Chapin. “Our class sizes are too high, our caseloads too large and there is too much deferred maintenance. There are far too many cuts to critical services, especially special education.”

Chapin said that while cutting game-changing services for students, the district is maintaining a position for a public relations specialist. She asked the committee to choose the students when deciding the budget.

But Anthony Caggiano, who serves as the district’s treasurer, said that despite the 25 layoffs, Revere is managing well. “When we compare ourselves with all the surrounding cities and towns, we’re in a lot better shape.”