Decision Time For Reading School Committee

The Reading School Committee spent Thursday night at the library doing what any good student would do with a huge test Monday. Study, ask questions, get answers.

It was a night of many questions, 72 alone from the School Committee to Superintendent John Doherty in a 28-page handout. Add in questions from the five committee members in attendance along with questions from residents at the RMHS Schettini Library and the three-hour meeting produced answers that were sometimes obvious, other times confusing. Even School Committee members struggled to understand some budget items.

But on Monday night back at the same library, the same School Committee will take two votes. The first is on Doherty's balanced budget, a budget that few would embrace, including Doherty. "I don't recommend this budget. I'm cutting the core, the heart of our school district." But it's balanced and reflects an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous year. A balanced budget sounds good but hides the fact there would be cuts at Reading schools for the fifth straight year, including the elimination of the middle school language program.

The second vote is on the override budget, which would require voter approval of almost $2.95 million beyond the balanced budget. As Patch reported following the Jan. 11 meeting, it would restore teacher cuts, restore the middle school language program, as well as add programs and staff Doherty feels is important for the future of the Reading school system and part of his District Improvement Plan.

For both budget votes, the School Committee could accept them as presented by Doherty, or any/each of the six committee members could present their own solutions. For example, Doherty's balanced budget got there, in part, by eliminating the middle school language program. A School Committee member could propose getting a balanced budget by different means. There will public comment, much discussion, and at some point in what could be a long night, agreement.

Following the vote on both budgets they will be given to the Board of Selectmen. On Jan. 30 the selectmen are expected to vote on an override. They can agree with the School Committee number or cut it to whatever they feel has the best chance to be approved by Reading voters. Those same voters voted no to a $7.5 million override in October 2016.

In supporting his override budget Thursday, Doherty brought in the principals of many of the Reading schools. Coolidge principal Sarah Marchant and Parker principal Richele Shankland spoke about the effect that losing seven teachers would have on their schools as well as the elimination of one of the double periods of English in grade 6. As Doherty explained, the cuts that a balanced budget would force would eliminate a successful middle school model that has been in place in Reading for almost four decades.

Wood End principal Joanne King put the phrase "building based budgets" into context, explaining her school has six-year-old laptops, nine-year-old SMART Boards, aging physical education equipment, has endured cutbacks in professional development, and uses outdated Scholastic Readers that are almost 20 years old. Principals from Birch Meadow, Killam, and Joshua Eaton also spoke about the challenges they face.

School Committee members Charles Robinson, Nick Boivin, Sherri Vanden Akker, Linda Snow Dockser, and Jeanne Borawski listed to the principals, listed to the answers from Doherty and Director of Finance Gail Dowd. On Monday, it's back to the library and this time a vote.

Photo by Bob Holmes