Rochester School Committee OK's nearly 3% increase in budget

Mar 30, 2018

Rochester School Committee members on Thursday approved a nearly 3-percent budget increase totaling close to $180,000 for fiscal year 2019.

The budget will increase from $6,076,537 to $6,256,108.

Just under $100,000 of the increase comes from raises in salaries for teachers, which the town is contractually obligated to fulfill.

Special education programming costs increased by $81,000. Additionally, transportation costs are rising by nearly $43,000 -- approximately $40,000 of which is for special education transportation costs.

Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros said he expects enrollment at the school to drop slightly next school year. The outgoing sixth grade class that will be moving on to the junior high is bigger than the anticipated kindergarten class.

“It’ll still be status quo,” Medeiros said. “We’ll keep our class sizes at about 18.4 students per class.”