Superintendent Announces Cuts to Offset $3M Shortfall

The following letter was sent by Superintendent of Schools Joseph Sawyer to families in the school department:

I want to share some important information with you relative to the budget plan for next year. As you may know from previous communications and news reports, we need to close an almost and significant educator job reductions will likely be necessary to do so. I will be making a budget recommendation to the School Committee at its March 14 meeting. However, last Wednesday afternoon my administrative colleagues and I shared some of the recommendations I will be making with affected staff because they are time sensitive. Given the impact of these recommendations, I decided to allow the staff the rest of the work week to digest this information prior to informing parents, but it is important to share it with you at this time.

As I've indicated in previous messages and at a public budget hearing last month, we are facing a very challenging budget situation that will require some difficult decisions. The budget reduction plan is almost complete, but there are still several potential changes that depend on a variety of factors, including how many teachers might take advantage of an early retirement incentive the School Committee has offered. This incentive was offered because we hope to minimize layoffs by reducing costs through staff attrition wherever possible, as we are looking at all job classifications for potential cuts including administration, teachers, and support staff.

The following information was shared with affected staff:

1. I will recommend that the district not fill the principal position that will be open due to the pending retirement of Alice Brennan. Instead, Jayne Wilkin, the principal at , will assume the principal duties at both Paton and Beal. This is intended to be a temporary, one-year hiatus given our circumstances, one which will save enough funds to cover approximately two teacher positions or several paraprofessional positions. Also, Ms. Wilkin announced to her staff that next year will be her last before she retires, so next year will be a transition year for both schools. This will be challenging for all involved, but knowing the quality of both schools' staffs and of Ms. Wilkin's leadership I believe it is a workable, if less than desirable, approach.
2. To mitigate the effects of this shared administrative reduction, we intend to appoint lead teachers at both Beal and Paton to handle some administrative duties and to ensure a leadership presence at each school each day. The short distance between the schools and from them to the school department office at also allows quick administrative response in the rare event it would be required.
3. To further mitigate the impact of a shared principalship, as well as for budgetary reasons, we intend to streamline the Beal program as follows next year:

a. The pre-kindergarten program will return to from Beal into space that will be available due to enrollment changes.

b. All first grade students from the attendance zone will all attend Floral Street for first grade.

These shifts will reduce the overall population at Beal and return it to being solely a kindergarten center.

4. The movement of pre-kindergarten and first grades out of Beal will have the following effects next year:

a. Class sizes at Floral Street will be pushed higher in several classes, as we will now have approximately 790 students there with the same 32 classroom sections.

b. Kindergarten students zoned to will attend at the Beal site, either in full-day sections or half-day afternoon sections. This will provide equitable half-day kindergarten class sizes and maximize our efficiencies.
c. We will have the space to add two additional full-day kindergarten sections at Beal, increasing access to full-day kindergarten for about 40 families while minimizing job loss at Beal due to the additional tuition revenue these two new sections will generate. The ability to offer these additional full-day experiences is certainly a silver lining in this situation.
d. Unless enough teaching positions open up elsewhere in the district, two Beal teachers without professional status (i.e., tenure) are vulnerable to layoffs.

5. Another expected change at the preschool level is to add a second afternoon section of pre-kindergarten, providing additional, affordable preschool opportunities for families. The additional revenue from tuition will offset the additional cost.

As I have communicated to our staff, I don't expect many of these recommendations will be popular for a variety of reasons, but I believe they are necessary given our financial circumstances. I also underscored the fact that I have a high degree of confidence in our schools' faculty and support staff to cope with these challenges. It is also important to note that these recommendations are only a few of the many difficult choices we face as a district, as additional reductions affecting all schools will be communicated at the budget presentation on March 14. As my administrative colleagues and I work to determine these budget recommendations, we are considering how to minimize damage to our educational program for students from preschool through high school. As we do so, we are guided by our district's core values and strategic priorities.

Please know that the leadership team is doing its utmost to craft a reduction plan that does this, but we realize that there will be undesirable outcomes, that not everyone will agree with the recommendations, and that these decisions will be particularly difficult for those who are directly affected. I will continue to do my best to communicate with you regarding the situation and its impact as the budget plan continues to evolve over the next several weeks until the School Committee votes in early April on a school department budget to present to town meeting.

Key School Committee meeting dates are:

• March 14: Administration presents budget recommendations to School Committee
• March 21: Public budget hearing
• April 11: School Committee votes on recommended budget (Times and locations will be communicated in advance)

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please don't hesitate to contact me at jsawyer@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us or at 508-841-8400 if you have questions or comments.