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June 17, 2009

Council derides school budget in first review

By Stacie N. Galang

PEABODY — The City Council rejected the School Department's $59.78 million budget in a preliminary 5-4 vote last night.

Meeting under the auspices of its Finance Committee, the council spent more than three hours discussing the city and school budgets before taking a vote that a majority said made too many cuts to school personnel and raised school-related fees, an unfair tax to parents.

Councilors Arthur Athas, David Gravel, Anne Manning, Rico Mello and Barry Sinewitz voted against the school budget last night, while Robert Driscoll, David Gamache, James Liacos and Edward Bettencourt voted for it.

Councilors Michael Garabedian and Barry Osborne were not present at the time of the vote. The City Council is expected to take a final vote tomorrow, and six will be needed for the budget to pass.

Gamache praised the School Committee and administrators for doing their best to make cuts in a way that least affected students.

"We all wish we could grow the School Department budget," he said. "Hopefully, there will be better times ahead."

And though Liacos voted for the budget, he urged the mayor to release more of the city reserves for the schools.

"It just seems like the pain is coming out of the School Department," he said.

Athas and Sinewitz lamented job cuts that they said amounted to nearly 10 percent of the School Department's work force.

"I can see some reductions, but I think they're way, way overboard," Athas said.

Sinewitz took aim at Superintendent C. Milton Burnett.

"I feel you should have advocated more to keep some of these positions," Sinewitz said.

Gravel worried that the cuts would set the schools and student scores back.

"This is not, frankly, a budget that puts us anywhere forward," he said.

Manning said she voted against the budget because she had concerns about the numbers as presented, which she said did not add up.

Throughout the evening, Mayor Michael Bonfanti defended the School Department budget, saying the School Committee agonized over the cuts.

He also explained he wanted to keep city reserves at $9.2 million next year because of upcoming expenses like $18.8 million in renovations to Higgins Middle School and as much as $12 million for a regional vocational high school.

"It's not that we're not trying to use money," the mayor said. "We're trying to use it wisely."

If the 11-member council rejects the budget, Bonfanti said the School Department would be funded — as dictated by state law — at one-twelfth of its present budget until another budget is passed. With so little money to work with, the schools would be sent into "chaos," he said.

Yet, Bonfanti said he is prepared to move ahead with the one-twelfth budget if he needs to.

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