Bemoaning the Budget Blues
After last night’s school committee meeting, I’ve got a bad case of the Budget Blues, and I’m guessing I’m not alone. (Symptoms include a pervasive sense of sadness, frustration, and a craving for sugar.) Yes, we cut another $1.2 million from the school budget which brings our total cuts up to about $5.8 million—two million shy of the number projected by state and city revenue reductions. Mind you, the funding is not definite as the state struggles with its budget woes and the city begins its own budget review. (Check LiL for Mimi’s take on the city’s budget.) And yes, we voted to move out of the downtown rental properties, a loss for the owners and area businesses, but one that does not adversely impact the education of our children at least. Sadly, the same can’t be said about many of the other cuts made last night. As we attempt to bring class sizes at the high school more in line with our fiscal crisis, the struggle is how to do that and still maintain a rich diversity of electives. With middle schools being pushed to an average of 25 students per class while the elementary schools hover at 22 and higher depending on the grade, getting the high school up to an average of 21 students per class shouldn’t be so difficult—if it wasn’t for the impact it has on the selection of courses offered (consider six kids in a Latin class, nine in Business English, or four in ceramics). This dilemma also offered the one highlight of last-night’s long, depressing meeting: that is, the opportunity to hear many eloquent speeches from students, parents, alumni, and staff about the exceptional enrichment of LHS offerings, dance and Latin in particular, as they were slated to be cut. We didn’t make those cuts; and in fact, we ended up reducing teaching staff at the high school by a total of 21 instead of the 25 recommended by the administration. As I said last night, we need a plan that creatively combines course levels, efficient scheduling, and an equitable distribution of students to get to a class size we can afford without devastating programs. Meanwhile, the shortfall continues. Stay tuned for our next budget hearing on Wednesday, June 17.