Apponequet accreditation could be reviewed after cuts, superintendent says
The Freetown-Lakeville School District could be looking at 'substantive' cuts following the override defeat, the superintendent of schools said.
The Freetown-Lakeville School District could be looking at 'substantive' cuts following the override defeat, the superintendent of schools said.
LAKEVILLE --- Staffing and programming cuts required in light of the failed override vote could force Apponequet Regional High School’s accreditation to be reviewed, Superintendent of Schools Barbara Starkie said.
Students in the Freetown-Lakeville school district “will not have access to the same academic, athletic, social, and civic programming’’ during the next school year that they currently experience, the superintendent said.
Lakeville voters rejected the override soundly at a May 19 vote, with 1,650 opposed and 1,191 in favor. Approval of the override would have maintained current services in the schools.
With the failed override, high school students will have fewer elective and Advanced Placement offerings, Starkie said.
These “substantive changes’’ could cause the New England Association of Schools and Colleges to look at the school’s accreditation, Starkie said.
Forty-one full-time staff members will lose their positions and another 20 part-time or hourly employees will see their jobs eliminated or reduced, she said.
Younger students will lose “vital services in areas such as reading and math,’’ she said.
Intermediate students will see larger class sizes in fourth grade and will not have the support of grade-level paraprofessionals, she said.
Class sizes at the middle school will increase, Starkie reported, to 29 to 30 per subject class and more than 35 in unified arts.
Other changes, Starkie noted, include the elimination of library media services at all levels below the high school and the loss of dedicated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programming in grades K-8 .
The Freetown-Lakeville School Committee will be meeting this week to discuss options, she said.
She said the district urges the community, as it has all year, to “reach out to elected officials and urge them to do something to improve the school funding formula.’’
Reviewing the funding process is crucial, she said, so “the cost of education does not fall so heavily on the residential taxpayer.’’
As the district processes the potential changes, Starkie noted that “our number one priority remains the daily experience of our students.’’
She urged everyone to remain focused on that priority.
