To the editor:
Members of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility have proposed many different ways for the Beverly public schools and the city to cut costs and increase revenues. Some have merit; but many, in my opinion, do not, and are based on factual errors or a misunderstanding of what those facts mean for education.
For instance, one of their suggestions is to reduce the number of assistant principals at the high school and Briscoe Middle School.
Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility points out, correctly, that Beverly has a somewhat better ratio of administrators to students than most of our neighboring school districts (and a better ratio than in the past). What they don't point out, however, is that if we reduced the number of vice principals by one at each school, the ratio would change dramatically — from a ratio of 417 students per assistant principal at the high school to a ratio of 625 students per assistant principal. The numbers are even worse at Briscoe — a change from 489 students per assistant principal to 977 students per assistant principal.
In a survey of neighboring school districts (Salem, Swampscott, Danvers, Peabody and Manchester Essex), the ratio ranges from 400 students per principal (at Swampscott) to 504 (at Peabody), with an average ratio of 451.
Another claim Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility likes to make is that the student-teacher ratio in Beverly is 14-to-1. This is true — if you include all of the preschool classes that have state-mandated student-teacher ratios of 7-to-1, and all of the aides assigned to work with just a handful of students (sometimes just one student), and if you include all of the specialists who teach art, music, gym, reading and math, but don't have a single class of students assigned to them.
Regular classrooms at the elementary schools typically have class sizes in the low to mid-20s, with a few smaller classes, especially in the lowest elementary grades, where the maximum is 22 per class. However, there are a number of classes in the elementary schools that are in the high 20s.
If Beverly votes yes on Tuesday, there will be class sizes that approach the maximums at Centerville, Hannah, Ayers and, yes, McKeown, next year. Class sizes at Briscoe are much higher; the average class size in grades seven and eight this year is 27. If Beverly votes no on Tuesday, they will be 33 and 32, respectively.
Based on the facts, there is only one responsible way to vote on June 3. Vote yes and support a quality education. Beverly is worth the investment.
JULIE BROWN-GARTHWAITE
Beverly
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