The approved budget will not require an override of Proposition 2½.
WILBRAHAM – The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee has approved a fiscal 2012 school budget which calls for the reduction of 16 teaching positions.
School Committee Chairman Peter T. Salerno said the $39.7 million budget that was approved calls for the reduction of five full-time teachers at the high school, six middle school teachers and five elementary teachers.
The budget also calls for the reduction of 20 paraprofessionals, or teacher aides, and 1.5 clerical positions. All of the staffing reductions will be made unless negotiations with collective bargaining units to reduce costs are successful, Salerno said.
“We are meeting with all collective bargaining groups,” Salerno said. He said existing contracts are not set to expire until 2013.
There are no more federal stimulus funds to supplement the fiscal 2012 budget, resulting in a deficit in funding the budget, Salerno said. He said the budget approved by the School Committee will not require a Proposition 2½ override.
School Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said the reduction of teaching staff may affect some of the elective courses and related arts which can be offered next year.
Salerno said school administrators are working to keep class size under 25 per class.
The total student body enrollment has been declining in recent years from a total student body of 3,826 students in 2001 to the current 3,500 students.
O’Shea also said the school district will be trying to offer more special education programs within the district, reducing the number of out-of-district tuition it pays to keep budget costs down. There will be specific entry and exit criteria for students utilizing special education services, O’Shea said.
Salerno said the school district will be attempting to deliver services more efficiently. Until state revenues pick up, there will be a shortage of state aid to help fund services in the school district, he said.