School Committee Discusses Needs With Principals

While the public was still welcome Monday night at the Millennium School, the normal sets of chairs put out for members of the community were replaced to make room for the more than a dozen principals and department heads in attendance at what was a joint meeting of the School Committee and the Westford Schools Leadership Team.

The meeting began with good news for district officials as Superintendent Bill Olsen announced that after discussion with Town Manager Jodi Ross, Westford's schools would recieve a 2 1/2 percent increase in their portion of recommended overall town budget going before voters at Town Meeting next spring, in addition to another $627,000 to offset cost of staff that was being funded by federal money set to be discontinued after the current school year.

While the news still leaves Westford's schools with challenges, the relief was palpable compared to expectations that .

"This doesn't mean we're in great shape, rolling over funding without real enhancement in services takes approximately a four percent yearly increase," said Olsen, citing rising fuel costs and other extenuating factors. "But this is certainly more promising than what was presented just two weeks ago."

The news laid the groundwork for the leadership team to present the various challenges they face and expect to face from kindergarten to high school.

One recurring theme at nearly all levels was the importance of the district's guidance program, particularly in trying to expand it at elementary levels, where principals reported that they often had to fill the roles of guidance councilors and were overextended.

However, despite challenges faced regarding the issue, both the School Committee and the leadership team believe that the approach taken toward guiding students has improved significantly.

"Never before have we had such proactive programs, we've become a model for the state," said Guidance Coordinator Mark Lucey. "In my earlier days, it was much more reactive, much more toward putting out fires. There's been a big shift in Westford in that regard."

Other concerns included more children requiring ESL services, worries regarding new core curriculum standards, and an increase in IEPs, 504 Plans  and other special education costs. 

Olsen noted that Westford's success may actually be driving new special education students to Westford, which he also noted cost twice as much as the average student.

However, he and other members of the leadership team want to work toward eliminating unnecessary IEPs while maintaining behavioral specialists that can help children with serious disabilities, who he believes do more than what some may think.

"I've heard some say that it doesn't make sense to pay someone $50-$60 thousand dollars for a behavioral specialist that will deal with only five or six children, but that person helps bring normalcy for other students in the classroom, so the cost amortizes itself."

(CORRECTION, 3:46 p.m, 10/3/11 -- The budget mentioned in this article will be voted upon next spring, not later this month)