By Amanda McGregor
Staff writer
May 09, 2008 06:00 am
SALEM — Two school principals put concrete numbers on the superintendent's grim budget predictions of earlier this week, announcing that 15 middle school teachers and 10 high school teachers will lose their jobs.
Salem High Principal David Angeramo said last night he will cut at least one teacher from every core subject (math, science, English and social studies), as well as teachers of electives.
Collins Middle School Principal Mary Manning told the School Committee she will eliminate an entire grade six-to-eight "wharf" from her school's long-standing three-wharf model, which divides teachers and students into teams (wharves) in which they remain during their three years at the school. Those teams also include counselors, elective teachers and services specific to that group.
"(The school serves) a very needy population, and we need the support people we have," Manning said at last night's budget meeting, held in her school. "If it goes any deeper than this, it will cut the model.
"We're losing some good people, but we're keeping good people, too."
The job cuts are among measures to pare down the school budget to the $43.9 million the City Council has allotted the schools next year. That is $6 million less than the schools initially sought, and principals and department heads have since cut their requests several times. There is a $1.3 million gap to close, still.
"In the big picture," Manning said, "I think we're a great school, and I think we can remain a great school, but it's going to be difficult to regroup."
Officials have blamed a $5.8 million deficit that surfaced midyear on years of mismanagement and deferred payments under former School Business Manager Bruce Guy, who left last fall. As a result, the district has been spending millions more than it actually has.
Teacher cuts at Collins will include:
r 3 sixth-grade teachers (one teacher was already cut during the midyear layoffs).
r 4 seventh-grade teachers.
r 2 eighth-grade teachers.
r 1 music teacher.
r 1 physical education teacher.
r the only remaining consumer science (home economics) teacher.
r an alternative program teacher and aide.
r 2 library aides.
r 2 world language teachers.
Secretarial coverage will also be reduced.
Angermo did not announce specific high school job cuts last night but said the alternative program will suffer more cuts, in addition to midyear cuts that were made. The school will also lose its student activities coordinator, a position held by longtime teacher Diane McGrane.
Angeramo said he will base the 10 layoffs on the courses students enroll in next year, and course selection is taking place over the next few weeks. He said losing staff will jeopardize progress at the high school with at-risk students and others who rely on student activities and other involvement to keep motivated and stay in school.
Both principals said the cuts will inevitably increase class sizes. At the high school, some class sizes will approach the mid-20s, but will remain under the teachers' contractual limit of 30 students, according to Angeramo.
Collins class sizes were particularly low in the sixth grade this year, averaging about 14. As seventh-graders next year, those numbers will be closer to 20. Manning said eighth-grade classes next year will be in the mid-20s, up from an average of 18 this year.
In other cuts, Superintendent William Cameron Jr. has also proposed laying off all 11 library aides in the district, cutting four teachers at Nathaniel Bowditch School, which is kindergarten through eighth grade, shifting Bowditch's assistant principal to cover Collins, as well, and cutting back some secretaries' hours by 10 weeks a year.
Parent John Phelan said last night that he and others fought hard to secure an assistant principalship at the Bowditch, which is a two-way language school where students learn in Spanish and English. He criticized cutting teachers there and urged for more public input in the budget process.
"Do we or do we not want dual language as a legitimate educational objective in the City of Salem?" Phelan said. "We're (making cuts) based on apples and oranges. There's not two language programs in the other schools."
Cameron said he is still hoping for more money in next year's school budget, both from the city, and by bringing more special education students out of private school and consortium placements to save the tuition money the district pays. Salem has double the state average of out-of-district placements.
"I am counting on you folks," parent Lindsay Morsillo told the School Committee, "to represent the parents and the students to the City Council on our behalf, to push back and make sure we do get the funds we need. ... I think that's part of your charge."
Athletic director Kim Kochanek said she already eliminated an assistant varsity basketball coach during the deficit crisis but plans to hire a junior varsity volleyball coach next year due to "extraordinary" numbers in the program, for a net savings of $3,139.
The School Committee also confirmed its plan to double athletic user fees from $100 to $200 per year, with a family maximum of $350. Kochanek rattled off athletic user fees in surrounding communities, illustrating that Salem charges less than other cities and towns except for schools with no fee, such as Lynn's two high schools, she said.
The elementary budget presentations will be on Monday night at 6 at Collins Middle School, where cuts at Bowditch and other schools will be outlined.
"We're just going to have to up it a notch," Manning said, "and work a little harder. You'll have to wipe us off the floor at night to make it happen."
Mayor Kim Driscoll, who is chairwoman of the School Committee, was not at last night's meeting because she had a City Council meeting.
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