By Chris Campbell
Contributor
4/24/08
The School Committee is proposing an override this year with enough money for three years to prevent layoffs, restore teacher cuts in the current budget, and prevent the closing of the Pierce Middle School library.
The library closing is the latest proposal made by the School Committee to avoid some teacher cuts and increased class sizes.
The override amount being considered by the School Committee is uncertain, though it is expected to be larger than the $1 million in additional funding proposed by the Warrant Committee’s $2.7 million override that is under consideration. However, the Warrant Committee was expected to meet with Selectmen and the School Committee earlier this week to discuss budget issues.
The additional funds would hire five new teachers per year for three or four years, according to School Committee Chair Beirne Lovely. Without an override, the schools could lose more than 25 teachers.
While an override funding more than one year is unusual, the School Committee discussed banking the additional money for use over the three to four years. Residents, however, would be hit with property tax increases in a single year following a successful vote on the School Committee proposal.
Meanwhile, the committee says it would be able to maintain the K–8 art and music program—previously earmarked for cuts without a successful override referendum—though it will be scaled back. The committee did not explain how they would cutback on the art and music program, which is a half hour a week for half a year for each student.
According to Lovely it was a discussion between school principals that led to a decision to consider closing the Pierce Middle School library next year instead of eliminating the K-8 art and music program.
A successful override vote this year would keep the art and music program at current levels and maintain library operations, Lovely says.
The committee has created more than 10 versions of the budget and is disappointed with the low base amount allocated to them.
“This is the ballpark we are playing in, here. We need to be clear about the magnitude of these cuts,” says member Glenn Pavlicek. “Maybe we can save one position here or there, but the magnitude is clear. It’s a very unsettling and unacceptable budget” without an override.
The School Committee is divided on whether this is the right year for an override.
“I don’t think this is the year for an override,” says member Mary Kelly. “We haven’t set ourselves up well.”
Committee members say there might not be enough community involvement and organization to successfully pass an override.
“It requires others to step up, inconvenience families and commit to leading the effort,” says Lovely. “If you think what we are dealing with is inadequate, and I personally suggest that it is, then you need to lead.”
One of the biggest concerns from parents who attended last week’s committee meeting was the effect cuts would have on Pierce Middle School. Besides closing the library, the non-override budget lays off five teachers.
“Pierce should not take a disproportionate amount of the cuts,” said one parent. “This is a systematic deconstruction of the educational system.”
There is debate on whether to increase class sizes to offset the impact on Pierce Middle School.
Lovely says maximum class sizes could need increasing, though other committee members are strongly opposed to such an increase.
The impact will be on all K–12 kids, says Kelly. The schools “cannot tolerate 26 or 27 kids in a class.”