School Committee picks up 2 1/2 Override pieces
Published on July 7th, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - It's a working vacation for the School Committee this summer as it toils away at the task of preparing for a lean upcoming school year in the wake of a failing proposition 2 1/2 override vote.
Last month, School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly reviewed with the School Committee the list of staff and programs cuts made necessary by an FY05 budget of $20,941,284, a 4.72 percent decrease from this year.
"For the past six months, we've talked in numbers," said Connolly, and at Thursday's meeting, "It would be my recommendation to identify the people that have been affected by the budget difficulties the town of Stoneham faces, and acknowledge their contributions and service to Stoneham this final time...This will be the first time we can officially identify who these 50 plus people are."
School Committee Chairman Cheryl Walsh read aloud the names of the 54 staff members affected by the cuts, along with their numbers of years of service to the school system. "That translates... into 328 years of service to the town of Stoneham."
It also means that the town has an unemployment liability for 32.1 of these positions.
"We talk about 328 years of service to the town of Stoneham. Again, that's not just a number. These are real people, people that we value, people that we respect, people that have been dedicated to the children of Stoneham for many, many years...I know you all share with me a great sadness that the town of Stoneham financially was not able to afford to keep these people employed...we wish them much success in the future," Connelly said.
Committee Vice-Chairperson David Sheils read the extensive list of extracurricular and coaching stipends not funded for next year. The coaching positions totaled 123 years of service. Walsh suggested sharing these lists of names and reductions with the Board of Selectmen.
But the news wasn't all bad last week. Connelly explained that due to a variety of factors, including a smaller than expected unemployment liability, staff changes, and prepayment of SEEM tuition, the School Department has approximately $175,000 in unanticipated, uncommitted funds with another $43,000 possible depending on two impending retirements.
"In the grave situation we face, every penny we have that is uncommitted...I think we have an obligation to lessen the impact of the reductions," he said.
The impact at the high school level has already reached grave proportions according to a memo from Stoneham High School Principal Tom Ryan who informed the School Committee that, after two runs of next year's schedule, it appears that about 370 high school students will be anywhere from 67 to 135 hours short of their time-on-learning obligation. Any school found noncompliant with the state mandate of 990 hours of academics per year, runs the risk of losing its accreditation as well as state funding.
Because of this, Connelly recommended using a portion of the $175,000 to bring back three high school teachers with the caveat that another might be needed to meet all students' time on learning requirements once Ryan runs the schedule again to make sure no student falls short of the 990 hour minimum.
"We cannot be in violation of time-on-learning."
Losing accreditation, Sheils said "is something we cannot risk for a whole host of reasons, the money from chapter 70 is actually last on the list. The fact is we're supposed to be educating these kids."
Reinstatement of the three positions would total approximately $116,000 and Connelly's next recommendation for the balance drew a resounding round of applause from the audience.
Losing the Middle School Assistant Principal position was, many agreed, one of the more serious reductions, and a parent petition presented to the School Committee indicated just how serious members of the community felt it to be.
The explanation was complicated but the bottom line suggested that the difference between the savings the position cut would yield and the cost of bringing it back was approximately $56,000, a sum that could be covered by the unanticipated funds, in addition to the $116,000 for reinstating the three high school positions
"It's not $2 million," Connelly cautioned. "It's wonderful and it's encouraging that we can make a dent in that layoff... but this will not bring back the vast majority of lost programs and positions."
Another piece of good news is that state circuit breaker funds for FY05 were budgeted at 25 percent. But, according to Connelly, all indication suggest that the Governor will approve the program at 65 percent.
While Connelly praised the work of the School Committee and administrators who have been working steadily over the past couple of weeks since the school department budget was finalized, he stressed that the funding to bring back some positions has been unanticipated and investigated extensively and was not part of any back room plan all along.
"This is not one of those situations where 'I told you so...They said they were going to cut all of these positions...They didn't get their budget funding and they found the money.' This has not happened tonight. This is legitimate, a small pool of money that has become available because of unemployment issues and late resignations... This is not a situation where we had money buried...It could not be projected who would find employment, who would retire, how much unemployment obligation we would have. I think the School Committee should be applauded."
"By taking this action tonight, we're doing the right thing for the kids and I just hope that we don't hear from the community that 'I told you so.' We cut our budget $2,150,000. If we restore $175,000 in positions, that is not $2 million."
"We need to thank you and your office," Walsh said. "It is because this budget is tracked daily, that were able to realize this money in this manner... It is not a guessing game."
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