Burlington Schools Blame Vacancies On Budget Crunch

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington Public Schools Superintendent Eric Conti told the school committee Tuesday night that the district would not fill two assistant principal positions because of budget constraints. The positions that will remain vacant include a team leader positions at Marshall Simonds Middle School and a Vice Principal position at Memorial Elementary.

Two middle school vacancies came with the retirements of Noreen Abati and Neil Lusas. One of those positions is being filled by Josh Murphy, the former director of student information at Burlington High School. Memorial Vice Principal David Rosenblatt will become the new principal at Fox Hill Elementary School at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

"We stopped the interview process for those positions because I didn’t want to go through those interviews that we couldn’t pay for," Conti said. "I do think that the middle school needs two assistant principals, and that is going to be a priority for the next budge...not being able to backfill the positions that we are transferring over is going to cause some anxiety."

The Burlington Ways & Means Committee has recommended a 3.85% increase in the school systems budget for next year. The operating budget request for schools that will be considered by Town Meeting is $49.6 million.

Also From Tuesday Night's School Committee Meeting: Town Meeting Members Want Schools To Repay For Music Spending

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Patch file photo of Eric Conti.

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