Marblehead Schools Take First Big Hit Amid 'Fiscal Cliff' Budget Votes

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The first night of "reduced-services budgets" presented to the Marblehead Finance Committee amid what one member called the town's year of the "fiscal cliff" included the 1.94 percent increase School Department budget that includes 33 positions eliminated, as well as high school freshman sports, facility maintenance and a middle school world language program.

The Finance Committee approved the so-called "reduced-services" budget that must be presented to the May 1 town meeting using only known available revenues to the town for Fiscal Year 2024.

The Select Board last week voted to propose a single additional property tax override that would plug the budget gap for one year and level-fund services across the general operating budget, restoring many of the "reduced-services" cuts.

The Select Board statement of intent on the override said the general operating reduced-services budget was to be developed while "endeavoring to cut services with the least impact on the town's operating performance and service delivery."

"We talk about how we are trying as a town to make decisions about cuts that are less impactful," School Committee Chair Sarah Fox told the Finance Committee Monday night. "I don't want anyone to be under the assumption of anything else than that these cuts are extremely impactful to the delivery of education to every student in our system.

"This is a huge impact on our students, on our town, on education in Marblehead."

(Also on Patch: 'Gut-Wrenching': Marblehead Superintendent Reveals Non-Override Budget)

The "level-services budget" — which would be a 4.52 percent increase for schools and would restore most of the cut positions and programs for at least one year — will be funded only if town meeting members approve the override article on May 1 by a two-thirds vote and the tax override also passes a townwide vote on a simple majority on June 20.

The town has not passed a general override since 2005 with the School Department's push for a $3.1 million supplemental budget last year failing by about a two-to-one margin.

The exact amount of the June 20 override proposal, and its cost to the average single-family homeowner, had not been determined as of last week.

The school budget, which makes up a little more than half of the overall town operation budget each year, was the big one to come before the Finance Committee on Monday night, along with the assessors' office and cemetery office, which were relatively minuscule compared to the $45 million school budget and showed little difference between the "reduced-services" and "level-funded" numbers since it was said reduced-services budgets for small departments would result in "gutting" those departments.

"It's really difficult to hear about gutting a department in one area of the town but that it's less of a gut in another area of the town," School Committee member Sarah Gold said during public comment on Monday. "I stand by the votes that I have taken on School Committee and I fully support that we are going with a limited ask this year. Across the town, this is what needs to happen. And it's really important that we are all working together.

"But it's really hard when I have to tell a student that they're not going to have access to their freshman sports, or that they are going to have a more difficult time getting their teacher to answer their question (due to bigger class sizes) in their fifth-grade class because we had to gut some of our departments."

Superintendent John Buckey said three of the main budget drivers this year are a 3.85 percent rise in staff contractual obligations, a 14 percent increase in out-of-district placements for special education, and a 38 percent rise in utility rates.

When asked if "building" in-district special education resources could result in fewer students needing to be placed out of the district, Fox responded: "When we have to cut 30 people, to be blunt, we're not building anything."

The majority of municipal departments will come before the Finance Committee next Monday to have their "reduced-services budget" dissected and approved ahead of the warrant article meeting.

(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.)