[Updated/Clarified] Teachers Get Gene

[Clarified/Updated: The article intially sounded like Gene Thompson-Grove  took the job. Thompson-Grove has since declined the reduced role position.]

During the , numerous teachers pleaded for the job of Gene Thompson-Grove, director of professional development and special initiatives, to be saved from the 2012 fiscal school budget cuts.

Those calls were partially answered Thursday as the committee approved Superintendent Bill Lupini’s $78.2 million budget proposal, which retained the director of professional development as a 0.6 full-time equivalent position.

“This will enable the system to better provide the level of desire support for our teaching staff—something we heard clearly at the budget hearing a few weeks ago—and allow us to retain more of the original duties and functions of the present role,” Lupini.

 He added later, “We believe it is a good investment.”

The original proposal eliminated the professional development position in favor of consulting services that would have cost $50,000. Retaining the 0.6 FTE position, or about 130 days of work, will cost an additional $19,200.

Chairwoman Rebecca Stone echoed Lupini's sentiments about absorbing the teachers' concerns during the budget hearing and applauded the move.

“We are extremely dedicated to professional development,” she said. “We appreciate the restoration of the position.”

Other changes to the budget include funding the Calculus Project ($22,000), the Literacy Project ($19,500), and the Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers Project ($20,000).

Of the total budget approved Thursday, $75.3 million comes from the fiscal year 2012 General Fund Appropriation. That is supplemented by $467,251 in tuition revenue, $30,000 in building use fees, $750,000 in one-time revenue, and $1.6 million in “circuit-breaker” revenue.

School Committee member Alan Morse thanked Lupini and fellow administration officials for their hard work on the budget.

“The budget process this year was much, much improved,” he said.