A household word in Everett for 30 years! DVOCD Vol. 31, No.13 -FREEwww.advocatenews.net Free Every Friday ATTE 617-387-2200 Friday, April 1, 2022 A BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNT THAT CHECKS ALL THE BOXES. LOW MONTHLY FEES - ONLINE BANKING & BILL PAY REMOTE DEPOSIT CAPTURE - COIN SERVICES TALK TO US TODAY ABOUT OUR DIFFERENT BUSINESS CHECKING ACCOUNTS. WE’LL HELP YOU FIND THE RIGHT OPTION. EVERETT – 419 BROADWAY LYNNFIELD – 7 7 1 SALEM STREET 61 7-38 7 - 1 1 10 Visit our website to learn more at: EVERETTBANK . COM Member FDIC Member DIF Learning about female public service with G.I.R.L.S. Massachusetts State Police Lt. Colleen Tanguay (at left) taught Ridhi Latawa, 11, Mehreen Latawa, 6, and Ailey Draine Jackson, 7, about fi ngerprinting during the G.I.R.L.S. Day event last Saturday at the Recreation Center. See pages 10 for photo highlights. (Advocate photo by Tara Vocino) School Dept. pitches $108.1M budget for FY23 By Christopher Roberson W ith an emphasis on safety, Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani recently submitted the district’s $108.1 million budget request for fi scal year 2023. Within that fi gure, $103.6 million would be used to fund the operating budget. That amount is $9.1 million higher than last year’s fi gure. The remaining $4.5 million would be used for special education transportation, refl ecting a decrease of $521,743. The district is expected to reRIGHT BY YOU SINCE 1921 Messinger Insurance Agency 475 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Phone: 617-387-2700 Fax: 617-387-7753 NEW COMPETITIVE AUTO RATES AND BENEFITS AVAILABLE ACCIDENT FORGIVENESS DISAPPEARING COLLISION DEDUCTIBLE 11% DISCOUNT WITH SUPPORTING POLICY 10% COMBINED PAY IN FULL DISCOUNT AND GREEN DISCOUNT 10% GOOD STUDENT DISCOUNT Celebrating 100 years of excellence! Monday thru Friday: 8am to 6pm Saturdays 9am to 1pm! Check out our NEW website! www.messingerinsurance.com ceive $92.6 million from the state in Chapter 70 funding, an increase of $8.2 million over last year. In addition, the local contribution is projected to increase by $1.9 million to bring this year’s fi gure to $38.4 million. Speaking about enrollment, Tahiliani said there are currently 7,214 students in the district. That fi gure is projected to reach 7,720 within the next four years. “The district has already paid a big price for the growth in student population,” she said during the March 24 meeting of the School Committee’s Budget Committee of the Whole. “We have taken away libraries, art rooms and music rooms – we are very crunched for space. We need a new school; we need to fi nd ways to immediately address this issue.” In addition to safety, Tahiliani said, budget priorities include cleanliness and organizational effi ciency as well as academics and testing. Chief Financial Officer Anu Jayanth said salaries represent 60 percent of the budget with teacher salaries totaling $40.5 million. District administration costs have climbed this year, going from $2.2 million last year to $2.5 million this year. The salaries of district-wide personnel have gone from $4.6 million last year to $5.5 million this year. In addition, Jayanth said the district is planning to hire 11 more interventionists and six English learner coordinators. She said that currently 35 percent of Everett’s students are English learners. “This is an increase of 20 percent in the last 10 years,” said Jayanth. She also highlighted the need for seven additional guidance counselors, adding that the American School Counselor Association recommends one guidance counselor for every 250 students. “These hires will not meet that goal, but they will certainly move us in the right direction,” she said. City Hall chargebacks are the second-highest expense and are expected to come in at $27.4 million, an increase of $1.1 million. The chargebacks will account for 21 percent of the budget with health and life insurance being the highest line item at $12.9 million. On the building level, Everett High School has the largest budget – totaling $22.6 million. This fi gure also represents the greatest increase of any school in the district at $4.1 million. Jayanth said $100,000 has been earmarked to contract with an outside company to hire security guards. “We don’t believe that those should be district positions so we’re looking at possibly contracting that out to an organization that really knows what they’re doing,” she said. BUDGET | SEE PAGE 7
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