RUHS Budget
Is Up 2.57%
By Sandy Vondrasek

Randolph Union High School Principal John Holmes presented a 2008-09 draft budget of $7.98 million, to the RUHS board at its November meeting. The amount represents a 2.57% increase over the current year’s $7.78-million budget.

The board has not yet formally approved a budget—that will likely happen at its next meeting, December 12. However, since board members did not direct Holmes to make any revisions, it is likely that the $7.98-million budget will be the one presented to Braintree, Brookfield, and Randolph voters at the union district’s annual meeting in February.

Since Holmes took over leadership of the school five years ago, RUHS has finished every year with a surplus, and the 2006-07 fiscal year, which closed June 30, was no exception. This year’s unexpended fund balance was $256,000.

Voters will be asked again this year, as they have for the past few years, to place the surplus into the building maintenance fund.

Holmes noted that the fund was tapped this summer to replace the school’s elevator and to upgrade the kitchen and convert it to gas. That conversion, from electric, is resulting in substantial energy savings.

The board has also used the fund as it worked over the past few years to prepare for a $12-million bond issue for school repairs. The RUHS/RTCC building is in need of extensive repairs, including a new roof.

The RUHS board decided in September to delay a bond vote, initially scheduled for this November, until school funding issues are resolved at the state level.

The 2.57% increase proposed for next year’s RUHS budget carries a bigger increase than last year’s budget, which was up just 1.14%.

Principal Holmes said his proposed budget does not include any new programs, but does include extra funds for anticipated salary increases for teachers. The Orange Southwest Supervisory Union and its teachers, in the final year of a three-year contract, are currently in talks as they work to forge a new contract.

Alternative PE

At its November meeting, the RUHS board also considered some suggestions on how students might earn alternative physical education credits via activities outside of PE classes at the school.

Holmes said PE teacher John Kenealy and Scott Sorrell, a social studies teacher who is faculty representative to the RUHS board, suggested that juniors and seniors could apply for independent study credit for activities such as golf, dance, rock climbing, with an emphasis on life-long physical activities.

Holmes and Kenealy were asked to develop a proposal and bring it back to the board.

Holmes noted that the board, in reviewing some policies, has agreed to remove a limit on the number of foreign exchange students who could attend RUHS in a given year. It had been set at four.

The RUHS board is devoting a part of this year’s meetings to hearing reports from various academic departments. The English Department is scheduled to appear at the January meeting.