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EAST LONGMEADOW In a show of force, parents turned out to the East Longmeadow School Committee meeting requesting that the School Committee reconsider their decision not fund two additional fifth grade teacher positions at Mapleshade and Mountain View elementary schools. Fifth grade classes for the 2007/2008 school year are projected to have 25-27 students at both schools. Parents are concerned that the quantity of students would affect the quality of their education. Timothy Bates, spokesperson for the group of parents, later told Reminder Publications he doesn't "believe that there is a whole lot of fat in the budget," but that finding a revenue source to afford the additional teachers may be possible since the "budget is 19.89 percent higher than last year." He said residents in town have been supportive of the groups' effort to lobby for the positions and they were were able to collect 800 signatures for a petition four days before the School Committee meeting. "There was a cross section of people [that gave their support]," Bates said. "Kids that had gotten out of high school that are now voters, older people ... we're probably going to get as many people as possible to call the School Committee." Superintendent of Schools Edward Costa was impressed at their showing. "I think, first of all, it's always comforting to see that parents are interested in education. I take it as a positive item," Costa said. "That is why there is on every School Committee agenda a portion for public comment." But Costa said the budget was finalized prior to the May 21 Town Meeting and that at one time four additional teachers had been included in the budget. "When we originally built the budget we did have both fourth and fifth grade additional positions. These are not current employees and we asked for two additional fourth and fifth grade teachers for elementary schools," he explained. "Six months later and through negotiations we had to trim our budget. It's just part of working with everyone in the town to have a unified budget. So what we plan to do is bring on additional fourth grade teachers [this fall] and the following year fifth grade teachers. There's just not enough money to do everything in one sweep." Costa said they had to decrease the budget, that "something had to be trimmed" and that the School Committee decided it was better to cut "future positions, not people." Costa attributes class size issues to the steady growth of the town. Even the modular classrooms that were approved by the town won't completely solve all issues, according to Costa. In February, The Reminder reported that some classrooms at Mapleshade were hosted in supply closets due to lack of space. "We grew by over 70 students this year. Modular classrooms will help but classrooms themselves have to be staffed," Costa said. "It takes a teacher in that room. You can't have teachers and not a room either." Costa said the district pays an average teacher salary of $45,000, not including benefits. Still Bates believes that the committee can find a revenue source to get all four teachers for the fall. "The funding could possibly come from four teachers that are retiring at an average salary of right around $70,000 and a new hire is about $40,000. So if you took those four retiring teachers, the extra money from that would be $30,000 apiece," Bates said. "And that would give you enough money for more than two teachers." "I do understand the want and need from these parents that were here last night," Costa added. "The School Committee has an un-doable task of trying to appease everybody. We try to do the best for all citizens and all students in our school system. We have a responsibility to look at all 13 grades (including kindergarten)." | ||||||
