Advocate Says Burlington School Budget Falls Short In Key Areas

BURLINGTON, MA -- The nursing-to-student and student-to-psychologist ratios in Burlington Public Schools are insufficient to address the needs of the student population, according to Burlington Educators Association President Diana Marcus. Marcus outlined her concerns over the school system's $62.3 million operating budget for 2018-19 at last week's school committee meeting. The budget, Marcus added, is not going far enough to address the needs of students who have had adverse childhood experiences.

The school budget is up 3.5% for the upcoming fiscal year. But even with the increase, the budget is not keeping pace with increased enrollment.

"We have only begun to address the social, emotional, and psychological needs of students, but we will now go into the 2018-19 school year with fewer guidance counselors and assistant principals than we should, given the growing enrollment and increase in the needs of students," Marcus said.

School committee members were receptive to a suggestion by Marcus to get more input from teachers and principals when setting budgetary guidelines to plan future budgets. That will likely mean discussing budget guidelines earlier than the committee has typically done in the past.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).