School budget woes continue
Published on July 28th, 2004
STONEHAM, MA - The School Committee continues to muddle through its FY 2005 budget and the resultant cuts to programs and staff in the wake of the failed proposition 2.5 override vote last month.
At its meeting earlier in July, the committee successfully reallocated money from various sources to bring back three high school teachers and the Middle School Assistant Principal that were part of a major budgetary cut back for the upcoming school year.
At last week’s School Committee meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly reported that more revenue is now available to bring back some crucial staff positions, while further sources of additional money likewise look promising.
Two Middle School teachers have finalized their decisions to retire, thereby freeing up about $43,000. A couple of laid off teachers have found jobs and Stoneham is therefore relieved of an unemployment insurance obligation of $15,000. Another $15,000 has become available since it was recently determined that tuition for a Stoneham student to attend the out of district Minuteman Vocational School is not a school department obligation and has been passed on to the Board of Selectmen. And with only three or four contracts left to negotiate, Connelly stated that he feels strongly that only about half of the $20,000 left in the salary negotiation budget will be used.
Connelly was adamant in describing the nature of these newly available funds being used to bring back positions, calling it discretionary money, “not found money, not miracle money.”
“It is money in the budget freed up from other obligations.”
With regard to the potential for more funding help, Connelly said that although Governor Mitt Romney has yet to sign the state’s FY05 budget, all indications suggest that money budgeted for Stoneham in state Circuit Breaker funds will remain in the budget.
“We’ve been reassured that that money is available…but until we get written notification, I recommend that we do not spend it yet,” Connelly said.
Instead of turning its attention to needs at the elementary level as it had intended at the last meeting, the School Committee approved allocating money to two positions of higher priority at the High School and Middle School levels.
Stoneham High School Principal Tom Ryan and Assistant Principal Donna Cargill have run the high school schedule several times and while the three reinstituted teachers will be addressing critical needs, the schedule dictates that one more high school teacher is required for students to meet the state’s Time on Learning mandate. If a high school does not provide students with 990 hours of academic instruction per year, it is in jeopardy of losing accreditation.
Likewise, Middle School Principal Jim Andreottola has run his schedule and, with the cuts made to his program, it appears that many students will be spending quite a few hours each week in study halls. The very minimum needed to address the problem of overcrowded study halls is the addition of a teacher’s aide.
“We’re not looking for excuses to bring back teachers; this study hall is a real problem,” Connelly said.
The School Committee acknowledged that several elementary school sections are in dire need of additional staff, but on Thursday it focused on what it considers to be the greatest need - the Robin Hood School grade 2, which currently stands at two sections of 30 students each. Addition of another teacher will allow these 60 kids to be in more manageable classes of 20.
While the School Committee approved the three positions, it also recognized other elementary sections that deserve attention, including South School grade 4, Central School grade 2, Robin Hood School grade 3, these cannot be addressed until or unless more funds become available. Connelly advised that new families moving into town will not be guaranteed spots in their neighborhood schools if enrollments are too high.
August 16 Town Meeting
Oak Street resident Carol Feke spoke to her warrant article that will be put to voters in a Special Town Meeting on August 16 requesting the town to transfer $300,000 from its stabilization account to the School Department.
Feke explained that while she voted no to a proposition 2.5 override on the ballot in June, she did so out of concern for the elderly, many of whom she said would have been in jeopardy of losing their homes if forced to sustain a tax increase, as well as for lower income people in town who likewise could not afford the leap.
“Here similarly, I’m looking at another vulnerable population,” she said of the town’s school children.
Feke said that although many people have voiced their concern over scheduling a Town Meeting in the summer when many voters are out of town, she saw a real need to implement some of what will be made possible if the article passes before school begins on September 1.
She urged school parents to get out and vote in favor of the article that will need a two-thirds majority to pass if the language of the article remains as suggested by Town Counsel William Solomon.
“It’s so important for the town to realize that we have a critical problem,” School Committee Chairman Cheryl Walsh said. “That $300,000 will take us so far, but that doesn’t mean that the municipal side isn’t suffering as much as we are.” She urged all voters to remember the municipal departments when free cash is being allocated at the annual October Town Meeting.
Other Budget Cuts
Beacon Street resident Denise Kacoyannakis has gone through the FY05 budget and raised her concerns and suggestions in a letter and recent meeting with Connelly and School Committee members Walsh and Kristin Russo.
Kacoyannakis said she identified close to a million dollars in budget savings, questioning various line items such as the advertising budget figure in a year where much hiring is unlikely; supplies budgets for programs that have been cut; and stipends for ticket takers at home sports events. She urged that all the areas she identified be considered carefully before taking money from the town’s Stabilization Account as will be requested at the August 16 Town Meeting.
“Stabilization is supposed to be our savings account…If we take it to solve a problem today, what are we going to do next year?”
Connelly called her points “good observations” and acknowledged that the budget does contain some non-salary money that could potentially be moved to salary accounts, but that to do so now now would be premature.
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