Amesbury School Committee OKs $34.7M budget

Jim Sullivan, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·3 min read

Apr. 13—AMESBURY — Amesbury Middle School may soon be looking for a second assistant principal after the School Committee voted Monday night to approve a $34.7 million operating budget for the next school year.

The city's public schools have been operating on a $33.4 million budget for the current school year. The vote was 6-0.

Acting Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews proposed a $34.8 million budget for 2021-22, up 4% from the current $33.4 million allocation.

McAndrews told The Daily News on Monday that her proposed budget represented an "enhanced level services budget" that included $98,000 to hire an assistant principal at the middle school. The school has one assistant superintendent, but McAndrews would like to find a replacement for a second administrator who retired last year.

McAndrews also said her budget proposal included $65,356 for an elementary school reading interventionist, $10,000 for an elementary school math coach, $33,570 in co-curricular stipends for the middle and high schools, and $65,356 for a high school social studies teacher.

School Committee member Mel Webster initially suggested on Monday night that the assistant principal position be funded with federal grant money.

But McAndrews pointed out that a federally funded position could only be guaranteed for one year and if that were the case, finding an assistant principal could be more difficult.

Webster withdrew his recommendation, opting to instead keep a middle school adjustment counselor ($65,356) on the list of federal grant-funded positions and not on the city side of the budget.

The committee's approved budget also included an elementary school reading coach ($65,356); an elementary school math coach ($10,000); an elementary school reading interventionist ($65,356); a math interventionist ($65,356); a high school adjustment counselor ($65,356); a high school student success coach ($26,249); a middle school reading/literacy coach ($65,356); and a district reading interventionist ($65,356).

The positions would be funded with federal elementary and secondary school emergency relief grant money.

"We are looking to use these funds to fund positions that we otherwise might not have had," McAndrews said. "All of these really tie into our social-emotional goals. We know the struggles that students have had and will have as they reenter school. So, we need to provide as much support for them as we can to help their social-emotional well-being, as well as their academic progress."

Committee Chairwoman and Mayor Kassandra Gove abstained from voting on the budget.

The committee's approved budget still needs to receive final approval from the City Council in June.

McAndrews' budget presentation: https://schools.amesburyma.gov/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=11305&dataid=19460&FileName=FY22%20Budget%20Presentation%20-%20Public%20Hearing%20-%20v3.pdf.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.