NORTHAMPTON — City schools will avoid layoffs next fiscal year under a budget proposal announced earlier this week by the mayor, though Superintendent Portia Bonner said Wednesday that other reductions in services are expected.
Although the Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s planned $43.8 million budget for the schools falls below what Bonner had previously indicated the district would need for a “level services budget” — a budget that avoids staff cuts — the superintendent said that she met this week with school principals and other administrative staff to come up with a plan that would prevent layoffs.
“It’s not necessarily the level services budget, but it brings us closer to it,” Bonner said. “We were looking at the worst-case scenario, and then when we got word that this was changing, we looked at areas in which we could reduce that would not impact staffing.”
According to a spreadsheet provided by Bonner to the Gazette, the reductions amount to $655,722 and are spread across the district’s six schools, as well as districtwide initiatives.
Though there are no layoffs, several positions will be eliminated through attrition and retirements, including a fifth grade teaching position at Leeds Elementary School and a technology teacher at JFK Middle School.
Part-time secretary positions at Leeds and Ryan Road elementary schools will also not be replaced after the employees in those roles now retire this year. A technology integrationist position at Northampton High School will also be eliminated, but Bonner said the integrationist would be transferred to another position in the district.
“This was a collaboration with the administration working together, taking a look at how we can really continue the work that we’ve been doing and not affect our employees,” Bonner said.
Other funds being reduced include more than $20,000 for school gardens located across the district’s four elementary schools. Bonner said that she would look to apply for a Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) grant to keep the gardens at the schools.
“I’m already beginning to reach out to individuals, to look for some volunteers that can help sustain the program over this year, and then apply for an NEF grant to help sustain that,” Bonner said.
The reductions also include $70,000 in transportation for students facing homelessness and foster care. Bonner said she hoped to be able to receive some reimbursements from the state and emphasized the transportation programs were not being eliminated entirely.
“It’s not a complete elimination of those areas, just cutting down on the costs,” Bonner said.
Other cuts include principal office supplies at Jackson Street School, professional development stipends and expenses at Bridge Street School and a reduction in the dual enrollment program at NHS that allows students to take community college courses.
The school budget has been a point of contention in Northampton, with numerous protests last year that led to the mayor to double her original spending amount for the schools but still leading to staff cuts. The school budget announced by Sciarra on Monday is less than half of the budget recommended by School Committee members, although several had acknowledged that such a budget would be nearly impossible to achieve.
Andrea Egitto, president of the Northampton Association of School Employees union, said in an interview that she knew of at least one person who had received a layoff notice, and that several staff members worked on contracts that had the possibility of not being renewed.
“Saying there is no layoffs is just word salad,” Egitto said. “It’s still a cut. We’re still losing positions and we’re losing supplies.”
Egitto also said the reductions did not take into consideration ongoing contract negotiations between NASE in the district, which could lead to higher wages for staff but more funds required for the district budget.
Once the mayor introduces a budget later this month, the City Council can reduce the total amount, but is not allowed to increase it. The council however is expected to vote on an order during its Thursday meeting that would allow them to adopt Chapter 329 of the Acts of 1987, which if passed and approved by the mayor would give them the ability to increase the school budget.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
