Piali De speaks at a recent School Committee meeting. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Acrimony marked School Committee budget discussions last week, as board member Piali De called for changes throughout the school system, and particularly at Harvard Elementary School, in reaction to the proposed budget presented by Schools Superintendent Thomas Jefferson at a marathon budget session on Jan. 6 and 7. The proposal called for a level-funded budget of $10,903,790, slightly less than last year’s request for $11,039,663.
De repeatedly asked Schools Superintendent Tom Jefferson and HES Principal Mary Beth Banios to centralize curriculum coordinators at the district level, to create a new department of humanities, to reorganize the tutoring and special education programs, to eliminate kindergarten aides, and to make other wide-ranging structural changes. She said she could not approve the HES budget unless it included job descriptions for many positions funded, changes in the way substitutes are used, and an accounting for the cost of lunch-time supervisors. She urged the hiring of a new part-time assistant principal at HES as well.
Throughout the proceedings, De argued that she was an advocate for change, seeking synergy among departments. “I’m not stuck in your muck,” she charged at one point. “We seem to be tone-deaf to change,” she remarked later.
Jefferson countered, “I take issue with the charge that there is no innovation here.” He pointed out that many proposed changes appear in the school improvement plans for HES and the Bromfield School, rather than in the budget figures.
Committee members Virginia Justicz and Stu Sklar occasionally challenged De’s comments. Sklar asked what some of these issues had to do with the budget review. Justicz suggested that the committee keep a list of costs that these proposals might add, so that the overall impact would be clear.
When De demanded that Banios supply an alternative set of cost figures for lunch-time supervisors, Sklar asked for a motion so that the committee could vote on the issue. Committee Chairman Keith Cheveralls responded that he did not propose to ask for a motion on any individual item. “These kinds of dialogues are incredibly helpful,” Cheveralls said.
Points of contention in HES budget
“I am really having trouble with the elementary school budget—it is so aides-heavy,” De stated. In response, Banios explained that grants from the state encourage the use of kindergarten aides and cover much of the cost. In addition, she said, if one adult needs to leave the classroom with a kindergartener, as sometimes happens, another adult will still be present to supervise the children.
The tutoring program was another area of dispute. De suggested that some savings might result from moving the entire tutoring program into the budget category for special education. Banios explained that tutors work with students at risk, not only with students in the special education program. De countered that she wants to erase the distinction between regular education and special education. “I am opposed to pulling kids out of the classroom,” she concluded.
De also questioned why both HES and Bromfield need a full-time librarian-media specialist. She suggested that Bromfield, which currently has no one in that position, should have a full-time person, while HES should have an assistant. Jefferson replied that the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) requires a full-time person in each building for its certification. “Not everyone agrees with [that policy],” he said, “but that is the reality. We have a gun pointed at our heads with this.” (Next year, the Harvard schools are due to begin preparing for the NEASC certification process.)
Other budgets
By comparison, the discussion of the budgets for maintenance, special education, technology, central office, and the Bromfield School went relatively quickly.
The Fiscal 2011 proposed budget shows an increase in overall maintenance expenditures, because all parties have agreed that the long-term costs of deferred maintenance are greater than the temporary savings. Facilities Manager Mark Force explained that he is developing a proactive maintenance budget. Finance Director Lorraine Leonard reported that the schools can expect substantially lower energy costs this year. She noted, however, that the schools must still pay off the costs of the improvements that led to the savings.
Network Manager Mark LaVertue reported on technology needs and improvements. He explained that he is promoting redundancy (duplication to avoid failure) in the school computing systems to improve reliability. Asked to summarize the overall state of technology in both schools, LaVertue responded that the schools had gotten a number of new computers in the past three years; however, new applications also demanded more capacity. He reported that HES is now fully wireless, with Bromfield making progress toward that goal. According to LaVertue, Charter’s Internet service is “becoming antiquated.”
Special Education Coordinator Pam DeGregorio reported on efforts to control costs through better utilization of resources. She noted that the program has changed the use of learning assistants, targeting particular areas where a given child has difficulties. “We no longer glue an aide to a kid,” she joked. While aides do not need to be certified, she explained that they are required to be supervised by a qualified teacher.
Cheveralls noted that he was encouraged by the increasing emphasis on integration of services in special education. “If we can integrate special education with regular education, everybody wins,” he concluded.
Bromfield School Principal Jim O’Shea explained that the proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 is about $119,000 lower, “sadly, because of retirements.” He explained that the position of leader for the foreign language department will be left vacant for a year after the retirement of Therese Keoseian. Piali De objected, “This savings is not worth it. If we need to have a bake sale to fund that position, let’s do it.”
In discussing the $15,000 budget item for the Virtual High School, O’Shea pointed out that the program allows Harvard students access to a wide range of electives such as Chinese and specialized science classes. “This is clearly the education trend of the future,” he said. Cheveralls concurred, recalling that he had been a skeptic of the program initially but was now a convert.
In discussing the budget for the district central office, De again suggested that the curriculum coordinators for the elementary and secondary levels be combined into one district-wide K-12 coordinator for each subject area. Justicz countered that taxpayers are skeptical about creating new levels of administration in the central office and usually prefer keeping resources “close to the kids.” She noted that the current coordinators also serve as teachers at HES and Bromfield. De again raised the issue of job descriptions in connection with the guidance department, as well as for all secretaries and administrators. Asked later if it is usual for municipal budgets to include job descriptions, Leonard replied, “I’ve never seen it before.”
Talks to continue
Although technically level-funded, the budget actually entails cuts in some areas to offset a $136,000 increase in the cost of benefits. Jefferson told the committee that the schools could compensate for that change without increasing class size because of savings in three areas—administrative cutbacks, lower energy costs, and the savings occasioned by the retirement of several senior faculty members. The committee plans to continue its review during the week of Jan. 18.
