Marblehead Schools Facing 'Catastrophic' Cuts To Meet Town Budget

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead Superintendent John Buckey painted a bleak picture of education in the district if the public schools are forced to meet the town's proposed budget barring a tax override.

"It will significantly impact the face of education in Marblehead," Buckey said. "What we provide to our students and our families will be bare bones, at best."

Buckey initially proposed a $49.3 million budget that represented a 12.17 percent increase over last year — when a $3.1 school supplemental budget tax override was voted down in the town. He proposed a revised budget during Thursday's School Committee meeting that was $4 million less and included not filling open positions, eliminating new staff requests, a $556,517 decrease in school supplies and a $584,000 calculation correction.

He said that the revised budget still leaves a $643,651 gap between the town target and the budget request.

"Which, honestly, as superintendent will represent catastrophic cuts to the district," Buckey said. "Everything is on the table at this point — athletics, co-curricular activities, anything that is not required by the state, and interestingly the Commonwealth of Massachusetts only requires U.S. history and (physical education) to be taught, will be considered (for cuts) for meeting that $643,51 delta."

School Committee Chair Sarah Fox said that these cuts would put the district in non-compliance with some state educational guidelines. She said she is hoping when the town presumably puts forth a general override request to voters this year it does so with a "unified message" of support for the schools.

"I just want to make sure that everyone understands the ramifications of putting forth a budget that does not meet state guidelines and frameworks," Fox said. "When we go for an override we have our contractual obligations that we have to take care of but we also need to address these deficits in our educational system where we've been out of compliance in frameworks for so long.

"We need to know that any number that we are bringing forward has to be in fidelity to meet state guidance, and to teach what the state is telling us we need to teach. I would like everybody to be on the same page with that."

Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said at his state of the town budget presentation last week that the town faces a "structural budget deficit" starting this year that will require either significant spending pullbacks or a tax override. Since he said he cannot assume the "will of the voters" on an override, Kezer tasked town departments to bring forth budgets that meet the town's ability to meet the 1.82 percent increase in spending over last year even though costs are expected to rise closer to 4.5 percent .

"What I have said publicly, and in my conversations, is that my intent is to develop a balanced town budget assuming no override," Kezer said. "I have to do that. I cannot presume the will of the voters on what may happen. I have to assume a budget with no override with the revenues that we have.

"But we have to develop, at some point in conversation with everybody, develop override scenarios."

Fox said it was her duty to push for the budget amount necessary to provide an adequate education for all Marblehead students, which could include a school number in addition to the general town override.

"We're at the point where we're going to bring forward an override request for what education should be in Marblehead," Fox said. "And if that works into this joint (municipal) effort, then all the better. I think we all can benefit from that. I think there is a lot of (evidence) people are looking this year to support the schools in ways they may not have been in the past.

"That would be my hope. But, if not, we're still going to bring forth a number that meets the needs of keeping us in compliance. ... Whatever we need to do to get to that point is what we need to do. Now the voters might say: 'We're OK with being out of compliance.' That is to their will. The number we need to bring forward, and I am hoping we can do that as a community — a joint number, is reflective of getting us into compliance.

"The idea of bringing something knowing we are not in compliance doesn't make sense to me."

Last year's school override passed at the annual town meeting but was shot down by 70 percent of voters in a townwide override vote in June. The last general tax override in Marblehead passed in 2005.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)