Get Informed About the Item Cut Amount Professional Staff/Benefits $531,764 Library Program 60,000 Building Services 37,500 School Resource Officer 42,500 Stipends, Services, Materials 40,000 Reorg. SPED Service Delivery 80,000 Transportation 75,000 TOTAL REDUCTIONS FOR FY09: $866,764
FY09 Current Proposed School Budget
At-A-Glance: Summary of Program and Staff Cuts for FY2009
Download the Finance Committee's Annual Report for the May 13th Town Meeting
View the history of Ipswich School budget cuts from FY02 - FY08
FY09 Proposed Override
At-a-Glance: Summary of Needs Addressed by the Proposed Override
- Reinstate 16.5 professional and other staff positions
- Restore co-curricular and tutorial programs
- Support professional development for staff, allowing district to meet all state and federal certification requirements for professional staff
- Restore transportation services to former levels (1 ½ mile for secondary and ¾ mile for elementary)
- Replace aging maintenance equipment and purchase necessary supplies and materials
Frequently Asked Questions About School Budget and Financing
This page answers the following questions:
- Why is public education in
Ipswich and elsewhere in such financial trouble? - Ipswich has performed very well by most measurements, despite year-after-year budgetary crises. How?
- What is different for FY09?
- Have the Ipswich Schools used existing resources wisely?
- How much are teachers paid?
- How much revenue has the Choice program brought into
Ipswich? - Can we charge more student fees?
- What is an “override”?
- How much would an operating budget override cost taxpayers?
- What is a municipal ballot question committee?
Excerpt of Letter from Rick Korb, Superintendent of Schools, March 20 2008: 
Download Materials from our Turn the Tide: Vote Yes! Campaign Rally on April 13:
To the Parents and Citizens of
Over the past few weeks, you have been hearing a lot about our school budget. Discussions have been held with the Administration, School Committee, and most recently with the Finance Committee over the pending FY09 school budget crisis. In order to produce a budget which we felt was within available revenue sources, we had to make additional cuts to our original proposed level-services budget. These cuts have been made in staffing, academics, music and art programs, transportation, professional development, technology, library services, as well as textbooks and supplies. The staffing cuts alone will result in increased class sizes that are unacceptable.
Read the rest of Superintendent Rick Korb's letter to the parents and citizens of Ipswich
