KP School Committee Approves FY2013 Budget and Handbooks

The King Philip School Committee approved an operating budget of $25,474,900 along with a FY2013 Debt Service Budget (Proposition 2 ½ excluded) of $2,571,743 Monday night.

One of the main discussion points of the budget talk was the potential to rehire some teachers that were let go for budget reasons.The committee hopes to bring back six teachers pending state aid the school system would receive from this year’s state budget.

While the state budget hasn't been approved, funding from the state legislature has been seen as more generous than the governor’s proposal according to Wrentham Business Administrator Paul Schafer

The school committee also said goodbye to the four retirees of the King Philip school system. At the beginning of the meeting, the committee took the time to recognize Chris Jackson, Jackie Huckle, Sandy Schaier and Diane Tower.

“I can’t say how much I’ve enjoyed being apart of the district,” Huckle told the school committee. It was a sentiment that was shared by Huckle’s fellow retirees.

The committee also welcomed a pair of newcomers. It was the first meeting for Jeff Chalmers who is the new Norfolk School Committee Representative and Megan McNeil who is the King Philip Student Representative and is president of the Student Council

In her report to the committee, Wrentham Representative Lynn Desrochers mentioned that all positions in the Wrentham School District have been filled, allowing Move Up Day to be a success. The event allows students in kindergarten through fifth grade to spend 15 minutes with their teacher for next year in order to allow students to be more familiar with their teacher before the next school year.

During the second reading of the high school handbooks, the only real changes came in the wording that gave the school permission to use the names of students when showing off their achievement or work on the school’s website or newsletter. A parent must write or email the school if they would like their children’s name to be withheld. After the discussion, the handbook was approved unanimously.

The King Philip High School Teachers’ Handbook, Extra-curricular Handbook, and Athletic Packet were all approved without objection.

In the second reading of the middle school handbooks, the only changes came in the Student-Parent handbook. The policy concerning the usage of the name of students in school newsletters was adjusted to be in line with the high school policy. Like at the high school, if a parent does not want the name of their child in the newsletter or used on a school website, the parent must send an email or a letter to the school requesting the child's name to be withheld. This replaces KP Middle School’s previous policy of allowing a name to be withheld by a phone call.

Also approved without objection were section G and H of the policy manual, a note taker for contract negotiations for the 2012-13 school year, the Unit A Memorandum of Agreement between the KPTA and the school committee, and Edward Merrick as the School Attendance Officer for the 2012-13 school year.

After discussing the handbooks, the school committee went into an executive session to discuss collective bargaining negotiations with KP cafeteria workers. They did not return to public discussion afterwards.