June 29, 2010
Dear Member,
As you know, the School Department is facing a $14 million budget deficit for the 2010-2011 year. Last night, on June 28, the School Committee met and approved substantial cuts to the budget to help fill that gap. The reductions include significant staff cuts, which are listed in greater detail in the attached report. These cuts will result in real hardship for many of our members, as well as a loss of important services to our students. The School Committee members present stated that their goal was to spare as many classroom teacher positions as possible in order to keep class sizes from skyrocketing. The loss of those positions will be felt by our members and our students, alike.
The pain is not over yet. Once implemented, the staff cuts will reduce the budget deficit, but not eliminate it. We have been informed that the mayor intends to ask all of the unions in the City, including the NBEA, to make financial concessions. If we do receive a request to reopen the contract to consider concessions, I will convene an Executive Board meeting to discuss the proposal and the E-board will decide how to proceed. That decision may result in us calling a general membership meeting, so please be sure to read all correspondence from the NBEA this summer to stay informed.
On a final note, our best hope for getting some of the cuts restored is for the federal government to approve new stimulus funding for states. Currently, Senator Scott Brown is opposed to that funding, which would come in the form of Federal Medical Assistance Program funds (called FMAP, worth almost $700 million to Massachusetts) and Educator Jobs funding (the latest proposal was worth close to $500 million). If you have not already done so, please contact Senator Brown’s office and ask him to approve federal FMAP and educator jobs funding to protect our schools and our jobs. Go to www.massteacher.org for more information.
Sincerely,
Lou St. John
Special Meeting of the New Bedford School Committee
June 28th, 2010
Report of Budgetary Cuts
The following is a summary report of the voted upon cuts that were brought forth originally on the June 14th School Committee meeting and approved on June 28. These cuts are to compensate for a total 2010-2011 budgetary deficit of approximately $14 million.
- Receptionist at PRAB
- High School SPED clerk
- PRAB SPED clerk
- 4 High School Guidance Clerks
- Drop-out Prevention Specialist
- 4 High School Instructional Supervisors
- 3 Middle School Assistant Principals
- 5 SPED Teachers
- 46 Paraprofessionals
- 42 Math & Literacy Coaches
- 10 Maintenance
- 30 Custodians
- IT Director to ½ time
The following are various shifts that have been made as well as positions that are currently vacant and will now remain so.
- 6 Teaching positions moved to a grant
- 6 SPED moved to a Grant
- 2 Attendance Officer positions (attrition)
- 2 Adjustment Counselors (attrition)
- Moving 1 PD day to grant
Possible further cuts mentioned by various members of the committee included:
- Freeze on all contractual raises pending meetings with all 4 unions
- Closing of small elementary schools
- Cuts in transportation
- Elimination of some Professional Development days ($300,000/day)
The freeze would be designed to eliminate the remaining $3 million budget deficit.
6 comments:
This is a lousy situation, but that being said, I think all parties are handling it relatively well Can you imagine what an excrement fest this would be if Bonner was still at the helm?
Thank god for decent leadership in hard times.
Since Dr. Bonneau and Ms. Fernandes have weighed in on the budget, I feel compelled to speak. I just hope that I'm not barking up the wrong tree.
First, I'm not a fan of the aforementioned administrators. However, I appreciate their offer to sacrifice during this fiscal crisis. As long as EVERYONE does their part, I believe the NBEA should consider doing its share.
The WatchDog has its eye on the transportation contracts. A source tells me the city can realize substantial savings if they contract with a particular bidder.
Again, I thank the school committee for putting the regular classroom teacher first!
I know that no one LIKES the idea of closing the small elementary schools, but wouldn't that be preferable to losing teachers? The teachers could move to other schools like they did at Quinn in Dartmouth. Those parents and teachers were outraged and heartbroken, but three years later they appear to have adjusted okay. (although I hear dropoff is a little crazy!)
The school department should not be paying the salaries of the school resource officers. They are a drain on our budget and don't do much of anything.
I agree SRO's should not be paid out of the school's budget. That's $450,000 for all of them. They should be paid through the NBPD. If we keep them, then I say that they should be making a hell of alot more arrests and maybe bring the dogs to visit the high school on a regular basis. If the school system is going to shell out close to half a mill a year for them, then I say we get our money's worth.
I also agree that the smaller elementary schools should be closed during a crisis like this. No one wants to do this but again, this would save the district about another half a million. Is it fairer to all of the children in NB to have class sizes as 40? And the majority of children in this city do not have the luxury of attending such small school settings.
I applaud those administrators that came forth this time around and offered their raises to the cause. It is a good example to be setting.
The school committee has had some tough decisions to make and they are not done yet. I applaud their pragmatism and their focus on what is best for children of the district.
The school committee is absolutely wrong in creating a "new" administrative position amid this budget crisis. Equity and Diversity should not be given the time of day. We do need to revisit our contract though. The Freshman Academy at the high school needs to be looked at. If the administrators are gone so should the $2,000.00 stipend for 1 prep period a week. That's $68,000. That will save a teacher or two.
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