Town Council Tells Watertown Schools: No New Teachers Right Now

Town Councilors told Watertown school officials they need to find a way to make their budget sustainable in the long term so the district can provide an excellent education and not face year after year of cutting jobs.

This year, Town Manager Michael Driscoll allocated $36.7 million for the public schools, a 3.8 percent increase, but Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said the district needed nearly $350,000 more to provide the same services and programs next school year as Watertown students now have.

Watertown School officials had hoped to add two teachers to help deal with the growing number of students enrolled in the town's elementary school, but in order to meet the budget those additional teaching positions had to be scrapped along with other cuts, said School Committee Vice Chairman John Portz.

Along with the two teacher positions that will not be added, one secretary position will be cut, summer school funding will be reduced, and the physical education, library, world language and music programs will each lose the equivalent of a part-time position.

School Committee member Michael Shepard said he has heard from many parents who worry about the way the town funds the schools.

"I am a messenger for parents around the district who ask the question, is Watertown committed to public education and to make sure children get the best possible education?"

Town Councilor John Donohue said that he believes there is some misunderstanding in the community, but he also wants more details about how the schools spend money.

"We are all getting calls saying don't cut the school budget," Donohue said "We are not cutting, the allocation is going up. You can do better on the (budget) transparency for the community as a whole."

The schools have some areas that it cannot cut, including special education and the contracted salaries and raises. Special education, especially, has been a growing concern, Fitzgerald said. The schools spend about one-third of the budget on special education, she said, the second highest proportions in the state.

Last year the school were able to meet the growing special education expenses by using money left over from prior years from the Special Education Circuit Breaker funds provided by the state.

Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said he believes the schools need to change the way they make budgets so they don't always face the possibility of cuts. 

"I think (the schools) have a fundamentally unsustainable budget process," Piccirilli said. "This year the numbers caught up with us."

The two main "budget busters" are special education and the compenstation, Piccirilli said. 

In the past, Driscoll has called for reforming the step increases given to teachers for years of service. The raises are part of the teacher's union contract.

Piccirilli said he thinks the budget can be made more predictable. He said school officials and the Town Council need to work on it together.

"What we need is a paradigm shift," Piccirilli said. "It is possible, but what we need to do is sit down and do it."