Worcester Schools draft $101M budget

Though salary negotiations are still underway, and formal approval is not expected until Feb. 21, Worcester County Public Schools Superintendent Lou Taylor and Finance Officer Vince Tolbert presented the school board with the draft budget for fiscal year 2018 at a work session on Tuesday.

The schools are requesting about $101.4 million, a $3.11-million increase over last year. The additional money includes about $1.11 million for step increases to salaries, about $611,000 for a one-percent cost-of-living increase, almost $711,000 for health insurance increases and nearly $567,000 for capital projects.

The remaining $115,000 is made up of bus expenditures and an increase to the local share of teacher pensions.

“The biggest change is the $500,000 for capital improvements,” Taylor said. “We’ve gone eight or nine years without, and I’ve talked with the commissioners and agreed to go down this road.”

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