Springfield's Schools Weather Budget Storm

Things could be worse. It's not as bad here as it is elsewhere. We're in good shape for the future. 

Those were the prevailing sentiments of conversations about Springfield's schools with parents, teachers and school officials alike. Where neighboring school districts like Westfield and Cranford have undergone considerable turmoil to meet their budget requirements, shedding staff and trimming programs, Springfield has weathered the budget storm in relatively calm waters. 

That's s somewhat surprising, considering that Springfield lost all of its state aid in last Spring's state school budget cuts, and that the district, like all New Jersey municipalities, is facing a looming 2 percent cap on local property tax increases. Nonetheless, with the exception of unease about some board actions and school programs, parents and school board members are calm and optimistic about the future of Springfield's schools.

"We definitely did not take as bad a hit as other towns," a parent of a Jonathan Dayton High School student said.

Much of that is attributable to past actions by the school board that were met with initial controversy and followed by periods of unease, but have now been either accepted or improved upon. Springfield made significant cuts to its budget in 2008, following the implementation of a statewide four percent cap on municipal property tax increases.

"Obviously, that was a tightening," Springfield School Board president Irwin Sablosky said. "We saw what was coming, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better."

Faced with a pending loss to its budget, Springfield cut an array of programs and restructured its school days. Gone were middle school sports, several electives in the high and middle schools and the teachers who taught those classes. New fees, such as an annual $100 payment for pre-K classes, were imposed. Schools went from nine period days to eight.

The changes didn't go down smoothly. 

"We had hundreds of people in [board of education meetings] screaming," Sablosky said.

"We were very upset about the cuts,"Candice Schiano, the president of the teacher's union the Springfield Education Association and a sixth-grade teacher at Gaudineer, said. "Obviously, we didn't want job cuts or diminished jobs."

Elective programs such as shop and home economics were cut, as well as non-core classes and positions such as a media specialist at Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School. The instructors who taught those classes were either laid off or shuffled into other classes. Some of classrooms at Dayton and Gaudineer dedicated to defunct activities such as sewing were shuttered, and some of the rooms are still empty. 

Students were left with a hole in their schedule. With Dayton, juniors and seniors spend the period in the cafeteria while Freshmen and Sophomores are brought to the school's auditorium. Parents said the introduction of a free period for students was particularly chaotic upon initial implementation.

"The kids did nothing," one parent said, explaining that students had little guidance and teachers had unclear directives. "It was literally a zero period."

The school's utilization of the extra period has markedly improved, the parents said. It became an activity period. Students involved with clubs and school activities like cheerleading or academic clubs meet with faculty advisers. Students struggling with their classes can receive help from their teachers. Most of the parents surveyed for this article were largely satisfied with the arrangement, but they noted that the potential for conflict is present, as teachers who oversee student clubs are unavailable for academic help.

"It turned out to be good for the students," a parent of a student at said (the parents interviewed for this story declined to be identified. They are active with their schools and were worried about impacting their relationship with the district by speaking critically of officials and faculty.)

Schiano  said that teachers had initial problems with the activity period as well. 

"At first, teachers were not that happy about the activity period," Schiano said. "But at this point the teachers are making it work."

Nonetheless, some parents miss the elective classes.

"Not every human being is college material," a parent of a Dayton student said. "Why not have shop or sewing?"

Schiano said that the electives have been reintroduced in small doses. 

"In the past couple of years, classes are starting to come back," Schiano said. 

When Governor Christie's administration announced Springfield would lose all of the $1,476,798 it was pledged for state aid, the board was able to make its budget without cutting teacher jobs or eliminating programs.

In the absence of state aid, which made up 5 percent of the total budget, the district proposed a 3.9725 percent tax increase. While no teachers were laid off and no programs were cut, the technology budget was cut by 10 percent. In addition, the board negotiated a freeze on benefits and salary with the teachers union and eliminated two administrative positions, cuts Sablosky said were minimal and of little impact to students.

"For years, people said 'reduce your administrative costs,'" Sablosky said. "We're well below the average cost per student."

Parents didn't blink at the administrative cuts.

"They can get rid of all the administration they want," the mother of a Dayton student said. "We don't care."

Teachers, however, were another matter. Parents said they were happy with the pay freeze agreement, but were concerned about future teacher negotiations.

"I truly do not want the teachers teaching my kids to be bitter," the parent of a special needs child in the Springfield school system said.

Another parent said teachers' benefits could stand a trim.

"Compare it to other jobs," she asked. "In every other job, people have to pay for their health care. Why shouldn't teachers?"

Schiano noted that Springfield's teachers do, in fact, contribute to their health care costs, and said that their benefits were on par with what teachers in other nearby districts received. She said that agreeing to the pay freeze shows that the 250 teachers and school workers in the association are willing to compromise.

"We understand the economic hardship of what's going on," Schiano said. 

Springfield's board of education continues to look for ways to cut costs, like withholding payments for the County's Vo-tech schools. They argued that the state's withholding of aid negated the district's obligation to pay student tuition.

The decision about the vo-tech tuition payments was met with criticism by parents of Springfield students attending schools in the county system.

Springfield's school system features two visible and programs that are unique to the area: the school's laptop program, where all students in sixth grade and up receive Mac laptops they use at school and at home throughout the school year, and the new culinary institute, a state of the art kitchen classroom.

Sablosky said that since the laptops were first distributed to students in 2006, students and teachers have utilized the machines to create "wonderful" education opportunities. Also, he noted that the money had to be spent.

"The state of New Jersey requires you to invest in technology," Sablosky said, adding that the state has been "thrilled" with the township's laptop program.

Parents expressed mixed reactions to the laptops. They said the utilization of the laptops varies from teacher to teacher, and that while younger teachers were able to make the laptops a vital part of the curriculum, some veteran teacher seemed to struggle to utilize them.

"I had a sixth-grader who never touched a laptop and then my seventh-grader used it in every class," the parent said.

Dayton appears to have a unified computer strategy, with teachers using the online resource "StudyWiz," to send assignments and the online grade book "Powerschool."

Some parents questioned whether every student needs a laptop to take home. Most Springfield families, they said, already owned computers, and they wondered if students might be better served if computers were offered at in-school labs supplemented by technology like smart boards that would complement the computers.

"Does a student need his own computer to take home to do power point," the parent asked.

Others criticized the district for exclusively using Macintosh products, saying that if the school used less expensive computers, they could free up more money for other tech tools.

Some parents saw the computers as a public relations move for the school district.

"It makes our district look hip, cool and tech savvy," one parent said.

The culinary program is in its first year now, and has come under fire for being an arguably unnecessary extravagance. Sablosky characterized the facility as an investment, saying that it will attract students from out of district and provide the district with tuition revenue.

The outlook for next year's budget is even tighter, with the looming state mandated 2 percent cap on budget in budget increases. It's early in the budget process; Schiano said she expected to begin contract negotiations with the district in the winter. 

Sablosky indicated that withholding payment for the vo-tech schools is an indication of the decisions the board will be faced with.

"Depending on what the state does to offset cuts in aid, we're going to have to look at our programs," he said. "And the things we'll look at closely are the things that are not mandated by the state."

This story is part of a nationwide Patch series probing the economy's effect on local schools. For more on the impact on Springfield's schools, see here.