Gazda said he will recommend keeping as many special education services as possible within the school district.
LUDLOW - School administrators will begin meeting this week to develop a proposed fiscal 2014 school budget, school business consultant Edward Dunn told the School Committee Tuesday night.
Dunn said he is waiting to hear the budget parameters from the town on the limits to the school budget for next year.
“We’re about to begin the fiscal 2014 planning process,” he said. “We’re waiting for the town’s parameters.”
School Superintendent Todd Gazda said the school district is identifying budgetary needs for next year.
“We are looking at some new positions that could save us money down the road,” he told the School Committee.
“We will be looking for long term savings,” he said.
Gazda said he will recommend keeping as many special education services as possible within the school district to keep costs down.
“We may be able to offer more clinical services within the school district by sharing them with other school districts,” he said.
School Committee Chairman Charles Mullin said he wants the school budget process to be “as transparent as possible.”
Baird Middle School Principal Sheryl Stanton said she is pleased with the overall performance of middle school students on the MCAS test, but she said much improvement is needed on the science and technology test.
A science and technology teaching position was lost last year due to budget constraints, Stanton said.
She said she will be bringing forward science and technology program changes for next year.
Ludlow High School Principal Lisa Nemeth said Ludlow High School students need to make improvements on the MCAS physics test.
“We will be looking at solutions,” she said.
She added that one of her recommendations may be adding tutors to the high school to provide more tiered instruction to students in physics, reading and math.
Students who struggle with either reading or math also will be struggling with physics, she said, which uses both reading and math.
Many of the students taking freshman year physics never have had the material before, Nemeth said.