Schools
Theater Students Protest Budget Cuts, Win Budget Amendment
Dozens of students protested outside town meeting after a proposed budget cut could force a drama teacher to leave Holliston High.
Students held signs before town meeting on Monday in protest of a potential 25 percent cut to the salary of Brian Hickey, Drama teacher at Holliston High School.
The salary cut is on a list of more than a dozen items that could be slashed from the school's budget to help reconcile a gap in the budget.
Hickey has said publicly he will leave the school if the proposed 25 percent salary cut takes place.
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"He is the best, he pushed me to a higher level of acting and he gets the best out of everyone," Ben Rutberg, a sophomore at Holliston High School, said.
Once town meeting began, the riled up crowd was eager to discuss the schools budget and they voted to add $19,835 to the school's budget.
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"The added dollar amount is equivalent to one quarter of the drama teacher's salary cut," Town Administrator Paul LeBeau said. "It was certainly the will of the crowd to have that money fund the drama teacher, although it is ultimately a decision of the school committee."
Toward the end of the night a voter made the motion to reconsider the decision to add money, but the voters denied the motion.
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