By Cate Lecuyer
staff writer
May 14, 2009 05:15 am BEVERLY — Parents protested large class sizes during their first look at next year's $44.2 million school budget but were relieved there wouldn't be significant cuts. The school district faces a $158,000 shortfall, which can easily be made up through smaller reductions, Superintendent James Hayes said. The city is also still waiting to hear how much funding it will receive from the state, and there's a chance Beverly schools may have a surplus at the end of the year, which will carry over into the 2010 budget. "Compared to last year, do a few big classes look as bad as losing a school? No," parent Julie DeSilva said before the meeting. "But it's a bad trend. All the numbers are going in the wrong direction." About 20 people showed up to the Beverly School District's first public hearing on the proposed budget, held at North Beverly Elementary School — the same school that was the focus of their concern. A proposed first-grade classroom of 24 students and a fifth-grade classroom of 29 are each just one student away from the maximum set by the School Committee. Parents urged Hayes to rethink those classes, saying, even if they're not yet over the maximum, it still puts a strain on teachers. "The demands on your average teacher have increased," DeSilva said. Mother Corinne Eanes said her daughter would be in the crowded fifth-grade class. "All it takes is that one child who needs that extra attention to pull away from the other 28 kids," she said. "I really believe 29, and 24 for the first-graders, is way too many." Hayes said enrollment projects are a moving target. They constantly change over the summer as families move in, move away or change schools. At this point, he said he plans to lay off two teachers who aren't needed if the enrollment stays the same, but that could change depending on how class sizes pan out. Hayes also highlighted plans to reinstate the instrumental music program in the elementary schools, to add a part-time reading specialist at Cove Elementary School, to add a nurse assistant so the nurse supervisor can focus on professional medical development, which has become more of a need in the school system, and to expand technology support roles. Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salem news.com.
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