Of the 135 positions to be eliminated, less than one-third will require layoffs, assistant superintendent Daniel Warick estimated.
SPRINGFIELD – The School Committee approved a $335 million budget that eliminates 75 teaching posts and sharply curtails the Gateway to College program for at-risk students.
The budget, approved on a 5-1 vote, also wipes out 60 non-teaching positions, including 55 paraprofessional and five nursing posts.
The cutbacks came in response to a $18.5 million budget shortfall, but will not compromise the quality of education or increase class size , according to Superintendent Alan J. Ingram.
Alan IngramThe actual number of jobs lost remains unclear because reductions will be achieved mostly through retirements and unfilled vacancies. But assistant superintendent Daniel J. Warick estimated that less than one-third of the 135 eliminated positions will require layoffs.
Warick praised school budget managers for avoiding larger cutbacks, given the $18.5 million shortfall caused by a reduction in state aid.
Based on Warick’s recommendation, the committee agreed to phase out the district’s participation in the Gateway to College program by providing funding for only 24 juniors scheduled to graduate next year. The program is run by Holyoke Community College, and serves students between 16 and 21-years-old who have dropped out of high school or are considering quitting school.
The remaining 39 students, in grades 9 and 10, will be offered classes in another early college program or elsewhere, Warick said.
Ingram had initially recommended cutting the entire program, based on low graduation rates and high truancy and drop out figures. But after a public hearing last week, the superintendent reinstated $208,000 for next year’s graduating class.
Committee member Christopher Collins said the students should not squander the last opportunity in the program. “We’re going to put up the money to allow it to continue so this is on you - get it done,” he said.
School officials said the paraprofessional positions will be eliminated mostly in special education, where one-on-one staffing is often used.
The reduction was recommended by an audit that found the number of paraprofessionals was excessive in the special education program as compared to similar districts nationwide.