It's the talk of the city: How to address the estimated $2.67-million funding gap schools in Beverly face in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Parents have been rallying around their neighborhood schools and some have proposed an override of Proposition 21/2. Superintendent James Hayes has proposed a consolidation of the elementary school system that would result in teacher layoffs, higher class sizes and new uses for the McKeown and Cove schools. And Wednesday night Mayor William Scanlon finally unveiled details of his mystery plan for the schools that would keep the Cove School open by supplementing the city's educational budget with funds that become available due to anticipated savings in its trash disposal accounts.
Scanlon did not do himself or his last-minute proposal any favors by waiting until the last minute to discuss it with the superintendent, his fellow school board members and parents. And we have to wonder whether he is just delaying the inevitable by relying on things like the value of scrap paper and residents' propensity for recycling to keep the Cove School open for the time being.
The school system faces serious funding issues which even an override may not be able to address. (The Salem News and BevCam will hold a public forum featuring proponents and opponents of the $2.5 million override on Thursday, May 29, at 7 p.m. at the Beverly Senior Center. The vote on the override is June 3.)
Next door in Salem, a temporary fix earlier this year that involved raising money from local businesses and borrowing a million dollars from the state, did not prevent the painful cuts that are being proposed for next year. And in Hamilton and Wenham, one override has followed another in recent years as taxpayers have attempted to keep pace with rising school costs.
Hayes has presented a painful, but reasonable, plan to address those issues going forward if the override is unsuccessful. We'd urge the School Committee, which has taken difficult votes in the past on the consolidation of the city's middle schools and the renovation and expansion of the high school, to follow his counsel.
While he controls the budget's bottom line and his intentions are good, Scanlon would have served parents and taxpayers better by striving to offer a plan that reflected both his and the superintendent's best effort to forge a long-term solution to funding Beverly's school system.
