Dracut Forum

Approving a Draft Budget for the next fiscal year, the School Committee has approved a proposed budget of $28,610,390.00, an increase over last years budget (after paybacks and transfers back to the town) of 2.77%.
A significant issue, of course, is the stimulus money that cannot be depended upon for the future, as well as increases [...]

By Bridget Scrimenti, Lowell Sun
DRACUT — Faced with a tight budget and more than $1 million in cuts, the School Department is eliminating 10 teaching positions for the next school year.
Superintendent of Schools W. Spencer Mullin issued 72 layoff notices to teachers a couple weeks ago, and intends to hire 62 back. The teachers who [...]

The latest talk around the campfires this weekend was that the figures from the state that came to the town after the conference committee completed its job and the budget was sent on to the Governor to be signed showed another cut of $600,000 to Chapter 70 school aid.
Town Manager Dennis Piendak notified the school [...]

Tonite’s school committee meeting was highlighted by a long discussion of the proposed budget for the upcoming school year.
Ultimately, the board voted to accept the budget 3 to 2, with the two newest members, Bonnie Elie and Dr Mike McNamara voting against the budget.
The long discussion went very in depth on how Superintendent Mullin was [...]

By Matt Murphy,  Lowell Sun

BOSTON — The state sales tax is going up.
So is the meals tax, taxes on alcohol, satellite TV and possibly hotels.
Both the House and Senate yesterday delivered an on-time budget to Gov. Deval Patrick that hikes the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent and lifts the exemption [...]

The Lowell Sun reported that first budget produced by the Dracut School Department is asking for a 1.5% increase for the next school year.
I only got to listen to the school committee meeting in the background Monday night as I was working on the GLTech Appointment report, but it sounded like a lot of justification [...]

By Dennis Shaughnessey, Lowell Sun
DRACUT — Saying he could not “squeeze another penny” out of it, Superintendent W. Spencer Mullin submitted a proposed 2010 budget to the School Committee last night, calling for a 1.5 percent increase over the current year’s budget.
“It’s a working document. Nothing is etched in stone,” Mullin said of the [...]

The Dracut Finance Committee has scheduled the Monday evenings of March for a series of meetings.
This has historically been the series of meetings where the Town Manager, Dennis Piendak, presents his recommended upcoming budget to the finance committee for their review.
These meetings are being held at Harmony Hall, starting at 6:00 pm each week.
Open to [...]