More work needed to prevent teacher cuts, boards agree

MIDDLEBORO -- Town and school officials will take a closer look at their budgets for possible savings as the school department looks to close a $2.2 million budget shortfall that could eliminate 18 teacher positions.

That decision was made after members of the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee shared their thoughts during a three-hour meeting on Monday, March 9, at Nichols Middle School.

Interim school superintendent Michael Perrone offered several options to reduce the shortfall.

One possibility is to consolidate the Flora Clark and School Street buildings, which house administration. Perrone said the district could look at renting one of the buildings out.

He also suggested exploring the status of the Lincoln D. Lynch Building, which currently houses Massasoit Community College, and reconfiguring the grades at the Burkland and Goode schools, although that idea has been controversial and questions have been raised about how much money would be saved by the change.

The district should also consider a transportation contract next year that would include also students needing specialized treatment, which could potentially lead to costs savings.

Part of the problem, Select Board member Brian Giovanoni said, is that the state mandates about $15.5 billion in school spending but provides less than half of that to the communities. He encouraged everyone concerned about these numbers to reach out to their state representatives.

Select Board Chair Mark Germain said he had previously warned that the schools were facing a “fiscal cliff’’ by relying on one-time revenue, such as building rentals, to balance the budget. But former School Superintendent Carolyn Lyons “told us not to worry about it.’’

Lyons also cost the district financially by continuing to receive her salary while on medical leave prior to her departure, at a cost Germain estimated at about $120,000, and by receiving a $70,000 cash settlement when she left, he said.

Select Board member Teresa Farley asked whether the town could use $300,000 budgeted for the fire department as a temporary solution. Those funds are currently not used but are set aside to pay for six firefighters when the federal grant that currently supplies their funding runs out.

“That’s an option I want to look at,’’ she said.

Questions were raised about communication and transparency among the boards.

Finance Committee member John Barrella asked how recently departed town manager Jay McGrail developed the 3.25% increase figure that the school district was allotted.

He also encouraged that budgets be reviewed “department by department’’ before any person loses their job.

Robert Sullivan, a Finance Committee member and former Middleboro school superintendent, said he remains in regular communication with the schools about their budget. “They met the number they were given,’’ he said.

Making sure that all boards were aware of budget concerns as quickly as possible was a major theme of the discussion.

“We need to start working together,’’ Sullivan said.

Middleboro High School teacher Tony Chiuppi described a “real failure of leadership’’ and “teachers pay for it, and students.’’

He urged officials to review budgets “line by line’’on both the town and school sides to find possible savings.

A shortfall of $2.2 million should not be insurmountable, School Committee member Allin Frawley said.

He urged everyone to “start working together and put the past behind us and stop holding the past against our students and work together as a team,’’ he said. “We all can do a better job at this and we owe it to our children to do that better job.’’

School Committee member Susan Pennini shared a similar sentiment. “If we get together and we have conversations and really do some problem-solving, we can come back with some better answers and get to a better place. It won’t be the place we wish we could get to, but it will be a better place.’’