Ten O'Clock News; Laval Wilson and School Budget

[Beeping noise] [Reporter] It came as no surprise today, Boston schools superintendent Laval Wilson announcing additional cost reductions in his budget for the upcoming school year. [Laval Wilson] We've had to make some difficult decisions. And those decisions we did decide on for high school, for central office administrators, as well as the initiatives that I had hoped to be able to carry forward for next year. [Reporter] Last month, the superintendent proposed a budget totalling more than 292 million dollars, almost 5 million above the mayor's suggested cap of 288 million in school spending for fiscal year 1987. Today's revised proposal, a 289.3 million dollar projection, still misses the mark, which means more cuts may follow. [Laval Wilson] No one likes to cut back on program efforts. We have tried to stay away from the program efforts. We have reduced support staff and, on the basis of the types of reductions that we have made, it has been, we think, a minimal reduction. [Reporter] In this latest proposal,

Wilson recommends laying off a combination of 90 teachers, administrators, and central office personnel, doing without the 2 million he originally wanted to spend on programs geared toward reducing the dropout rate. And he has eliminated his 6 million dollar request for money to repair aging, rundown facilities. School Committee President John Nucci is keeping an open mind about the superintendent's new recommendations. [John Nucci] Well I think the superintendent has made a good effort at keeping expenses in line and at the same time preserving quality educational programs. [Reporter] Last week, when the school committee rejected Wilson's cost-cutting plan to close or consolidate 8 schools, the superintendent warned that other areas of the budget would suffer. But Nucci maintains that necessary programs will not be undermined. [John Nucci] I think I can say with total confidence that the school committee will not approve any reduction in programs for at-risk youth. We will either have to find that money elsewhere in the budget or else find it over at city hall. But I do not believe the school committee will allow for any cuts in programs for at-risk youth, with the astronomical dropout rate that we have.

[Reporter] Next Tuesday beginning at 5 o'clock, the school committee will meet and discuss the superintendent's budget recommendations. And at 7:30, members of the public will have an opportunity to express their opinion. For the 10 O'Clock News, I'm Marcus Jones. [end of news, beginning of new segment] -- responsibilities, not as does the word patient to their illness. [Woman speaking] I had this poster in the home, We Are the World for starving children in Africa, but I thought about it too, you know, we're mental patients of the world too, you know, we're the world - we care, we have hopes and we have dreams. [Reporter] I'm Meg Vaillancourt for the 10 O'Clock News.