Town Councilors Jeff Plumb and Keith Hamilton look over financial data with Supt. Susan Lusi.

Everybody at the Finance Committee meeting tonight seemed to want to keep the Elmhurst School open for at least another year, but the devil is in the details, some of which are beyond control of the town. Town Council members Keith Hamilton and Jeff Plumb joined more than 40 people in the PHS Library to hear presentations to the school Finance Subcommittee about costs of technology, co-curriculars, and, of course, Elmhurst.

There was one illuminating exchange toward the end of the meeting, where Councilor Plumb explicitly proposed keeping the school open for one more year.

"Why don't you make an agreement with parents," said Plumb, arguing that the decision was too difficult to make by May, and that with the budget projected to be even grimmer next year, it might make more sense then. "Why not take the savings next year."

"If we're $300K short," replied School Committee Chair Dick Carpender, referring to the projected shortfall, "Will you fund us?"

"Will you go to 20% co-pays?" Plumb responded. Carpender declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations, but it was clear from the exchange that at least some members of the Council seem to be entertaining the possibility of compromise, rather than the prior position of a 5% cut across the board. "We will go to cap, we will go to 4.75%," said Plumb, "And use that money to the best of our ability."

The level of passion and concern from all the parents in the room could not have escaped anyone on the committee or the councilors, and parent Tim Banks probably put into words what many were thinking. "What I expect from the people I voted for," he said, "Is a thoughtful approach, and what's in the best interest of all the folks in town. Young people are not where to start balancing the budget. It's time for the grown ups to step up."

Both of the councilors seemed to get that. "The town does not want to put saving money on the back of the teachers," said Hamilton. "It's everybody from the town administrator on down. We're not just looking at teachers. Every contract is being looked at."

There was a robust discussion of the issues with closing Elmhurst — the timetable for implementing such a radical change, the lack of information about administrative and transportation costs, disposition of the property, and the specter of an influx of students from the Navy BRAC or private schools. The Elmhurst parents had brought a presentation, and I'll either post or link to it when they make it available.

Compared to earlier meetings, there was much less discussion of property values and other divisive issues, but one Elmhurst parent just couldn't let go of the notion that their school is better. "Elmhurst is the jewel," she said, and cited as a given that test scores were higher there. Why not close one of the weaker schools, she asked.

"All three of our schools are high performing," Carpender replied. "I take exception to that. All three have outstanding parent groups, staff, and students."

Click image to embiggen.

To echo Carpender's point, I shared the following chart, which I started researching after comments at the last meeting regarding Elmhurst's superior test scores. I looked up NECAP data for all three elementary schools for the most recent cohort, current 5th graders. And while it is true that Elmhurst students begin with a higher percentage scoring proficient, what I find striking about the chart is the slope of the lines for the other two schools. It is pretty clear to me that the quality of the teaching and learning is every bit as good at Melville and Hathaway. Let's accept that all our teachers are qualified and all our students have learning potential, and stop this divisive rhetoric about "better."

While Elmhurst was the main attraction this evening, the undercard was equally significant. Director of IT Rose Muller presented to the committee on the need for level funding in technology. She explained that they had been able to reduce software licensing costs by using virtualization (in which the operating system and software sits on a central server and is accessed through less-expensive terminals) but that there were ongoing hardware replacement costs that required the continuation of the technology warrant from the Town.

There was back and forth about the actual cost of the technology warrant, and acknowledgment that the $350K in borrowing actually ends up costing the town $400K. And while there is probably agreement that it would be preferable to build this into the operating budget, the question of how to get there remained unanswered.

The numbers on extracurriculars were presented in detail. Bottom line is that stipends for club and activity advisors run $45K at PHS and about $18K at the Middle School. These are not something that anyone wanted to cut, indeed, Finance Chair Buddemeyer repeated what has become a mantra at these meetings, that because of the possibility of budget shortfall, "These are things we are just considering [...] because we have to."

PHS Principal Bob Littlefield spoke eloquently about the importance of extracurriculars. "This is the other side of life in any public high school," he said. "Think back to when you were in high school and what got you up in the morning, what built your relationships with the adults in the building. This is what makes our high school a vital, thriving place."

And, Lusi noted, many of the extracurriculars are supported by PTOs and boosters. "The [district] budget for band transportation is now smaller than it was 5 years ago, and the Boosters have raised an enormous amount of money."

Finance Director Chris Tague presented the numbers on Portsmouth's co-curricular subjects. With 29.7 total Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) involved, the outlay for all the programs comes to "$3M on a $35M budget." Music (at $832K) and art (at $513K) are the largest chunks, but Lusi warned that many of the programs are mandated by the state.

"They require programs," she said, "But don't necessarily require everything that we have." Some programs have specific minutes-per-week mandated by the state, and some are part of Portsmouth's defined Basic Education Program. "If we have the misfortune to be asked to make reductions in this area, [...] we could potentially, not desirably, save something."

With much more work to do, and a shrinking supply of days between now and March 25 when the budget needs to be submitted to the Town Council, the committee is clearly looking into every possible option.

Next meetings will be Monday and Tuesday at 5:30 in Town Hall.