Three-tier school budget proposes staff cuts at all levels

Date: 3/15/2011

March 16, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — There was pain in every part of the three-scenario budget presentation by School Superintendent Dr. Robert Johnston at the March 8 School Committee meeting.

Like all other town managers, Johnson had been directed by Mayor Edward Gibson to prepare three different budgets — one reflecting level funding, a second reflecting a 5 percent reduction in spending and a third reflecting a 10 percent reduction — in anticipation of the predicted 7 percent shortfall in state aid for fiscal year (FY)2012 and the loss of federal stimulus funds.

"There's a distinction being made between a level service [budget] and a level funded budget," Acting Assistant Superintendent Kevin McQuillan told Reminder Publications. "We usually start with a level service budget — 'what's it going to cost us to provide what we're currently doing?'"

McQuillan said a level service School Department budget for FY12 would cost the town $36,409,829, approximately a $1.6 million increase over FY11 spending.

"The reason for that increase, because we're not expanding services at all, is a combination of cost increases and the loss of federal grant monies, mostly the stimulus [fund] monies," he said.

To reach a level funded — or what he called the tier one budget — McQuillan said the department must eliminate the $1.6 million increase. He said Johnston outlined the cuts this would entail for the School Committee in a Power Point presentation.

Tier one reductions include a $200,000 cut in supplies, $29,242 cut in conference and travel expenses and $56,122 cut in professional development. Additionally, 2.5 administrative positions, 2.2 clerical staff positions, 3.25 custodial positions, 11 paraprofessional positions in the libraries, kindergartens and classrooms and 12 program teaching positions, possibly including electives and arts, librarian, English Language Learners, math intervention specialist, reading recovery and academic coaching positions would be cut.

Other cuts would affect mentoring programs, daily police details at the middle and high schools, elementary school lunch supervisors, student activities and athletics — which may eliminate some freshman teams at the high school — after-school clubs, intramural sports and late-day buses, summer stipends for middle and high school guidance counselors and middle school department chair and team leader positions.

The tier one budget also reflected an increase in athletic and parking fees to offset cuts in those areas.

"We start off with supplies and conference and travel and professional development," McQuillan said. "When we had to get to cuts, we had been holding some open positions in anticipation [of staff reductions]. Before we go to teachers we go to administration, to clerical, to custodial. We try to save any teacher or paraprofessional cuts to last.

Tier one personnel cuts would add $373,411 to the town's unemployment costs.

"The town is self-funded for unemployment costs," McQuillan said. "If we lay someone off and [he or she] gets unemployment compensation, that charge comes back to the town."

To achieve the 5 percent reduction, or tier two budget, McQuillan said the department would need to cut an additional $1.7 million in expenses. To reach the tier three budget — reflecting a 10 percent reduction — would require another $1.7 million in cuts.

"Total cuts to get to the 10 percent reduction is just over $5 million," he noted.

McQuillan said that Johnston's approach to these reductions was "not to eliminate any whole programs at one blow, but to take it incrementally."

"We have cuts in tier one for level funded, tier two for 5 percent and tier three for 10 percent," he said.

In all cases, McQuillan said Johnston's philosophy was to "protect as much as possible the teacher in the classroom who interacts directly with the kids."

However, "because education is a personnel-intensive business, there's not very far you can go into the budgets before you hit personnel costs," McQuillan said. "There aren't many other options."

According to Johnston's presentation, a 5 percent reduction — or tier two — budget scenario would require the elimination of an additional two administrators, two clerical staff, two custodians, 7.5 paraprofessionals, 1.5 pupil staff positions and up to 15 classroom teachers, increasing class sizes above recommended numbers. It would also require a one-day-per-week furlough of all public school staff, eliminating all clubs, eliminate two department chair positions at the high school and make further cuts in program teachers.

These cuts would add an additional $693,414 to the town's unemployment costs.

According to the presentation the tier three, or 10 percent reduction budget scenario, does not call for any school closures, but does increase class sizes. Staff reductions at this level would include an additional two administrators, two clerical staff, two custodians, two maintenance positions, two nurses and up to 40 teachers and paraprofessionals.

"At 10 percent, it's drastic, and it's amplified by the unemployment costs that would have to be met," McQuillan said, adding that at the $5 million reduction the town would incur a total of $1.8 million in unemployment costs, "so you would have to make further cuts."

McQuillan said the School Department does still have approximately $790,000 in a one-time grant from the Education Jobs Program that was held over from FY11 to 12 to help offset some of the loss of American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARA) funds, but those dollars are not "being applied against what we have to cut." Those funds, he said, would help offset $2.1 million in recurring costs that were covered by ARA funds last year.