The Board of Education approved a budget statement that was passed on to both the Board of Finance and the public during a special meeting Monday, March 10.

On March 4 meeting, the school board voted to have its Communication Subcommittee write a budget statement in anticipation of the Board of Finance’s March 12 meeting.

“It has been requested that we put together a statement regarding our decision on the budget ,” said school board Chair Debbie Leidlein on March 4.

During that meeting, members shared differing opinions on how to express support for the 2014-15 school budget.

The draft of the statement was presented during the special meeting on Monday and voted on unanimously.

“The Communications Subcommittee met and we… requested input from board members regarding a statement,” BOE Vice Chair Laura Roche said. “With that feedback a draft was put together. This was the draft the [Communications Subcommittee] agreed upon, voted upon, and we’re bringing it to you for your approval so we can send it to the Board of Finance.”

Ms Roche also said the plan is to send the statement out to the school district by email with a letter explaining it.

BOE member Michelle Ku thanked the Communications Subcommittee for putting together a statement that brought together different views.

The following is the draft of the statement as passed by the school board Monday.

BOE 2014-15 Budget Statement

“We, the Board of Education, fully support the Board of Education budget as presented to the Board of Finance. We believe this budget addresses both the educational needs of our district as well as the declining enrollment. It is the collective work of the superintendent and the Board of Education to present a fiscally responsible budget. We realize that there may be necessary adjustments to the budget due to realized differences in costs and we would support any mutually-recognized adjustments due to findings during the review by the Board of Finance. As we move forward, the superintendent and the Board of Education will continue to examine the school system for efficiencies, as stated in our budget goals, along with a continuous review of the effects of declining enrollment.

“We respectfully ask the Board of Finance to collaborate with use to support this budget.”

The school board also posted the statement and its letter to the community online here.