Textbook Backlog

The yearly budget for textbooks and instructional materials for our school district was about $430,000 in FY 2008, which was already modest for a district of our size (as a comparison, our neighbor Westborough budgeted over $500,000 this year for curriculum supplies and textbooks, and they have about 2,400 fewer students than we do).  For the past five years, student learning materials have been severely underfunded due to our resource limitations, averaging about $57,000 per year, or 87% lower than FY 2008.  

One consequence of this lack of investment is that our math textbooks and instructional materials have been out of alignment with the state's updated curriculum frameworks, on which our students started being tested last year through the MCAS.  Next year's budget will require about $343,000 towards the purchase of updated math curriculum resources.  Without the additional funding from a supplemental budget that will be available through a successful override, we will need to cut other personnel and programming from our current program to fund this critical need.  For more information on our curriculum needs, click here.