By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — There are going to be programming changes at Lynnfield High School next year due to the School Department’s ongoing budget challenges.
The School Department has requested a $29,656,549 operating budget for fiscal year 2024, which represents a 4 percent increase over FY23’s $28,515,911 spending plan. Spring Town Meeting will be voting on the town’s FY24 operating budget on Monday, April 24, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium.
“Each year, there is a minimum amount that is required in a budget just to open the doors of schools,” said Superintendent Kristen Vogel during the School Committee’s April 12 meeting. “That includes salaries of our employees, curriculum materials, support services and turning the lights on. That amount is about a 3.5 percent to 4 percent increase each year.”
Vogel recalled that the state’s Operational Services Division (OSD), which develops tuition prices for more than 200 approved special education programs in 100 private schools, set a 14 percent increase for special education out-of-district tuition in FY24.
“That is 12 percent more than we typically budget for,” said Vogel. “We typically budget for a 2 percent increase.”
As a result of the OSD’s unfunded mandate, the School Department has been forced to budget $1,923,474 for special education out-of-district tuition in FY24, which is higher than FY23’s $1,602,650 appropriation. The district also budgeted $354,486 for special education out-of-district transportation in FY24, which is less than FY23’s $385,009 allocation.
In the wake of special education costs skyrocketing, Vogel said the School Department has been forced to reallocate resources once again. She said Lynnfield High School is eliminating its Latin program next year.
“The enrollment was low,” said Vogel. “We have had four teachers in four years. We will be offering Spanish 1 instead, which has been a request from parents and middle school teachers for a number of years.”
Vogel said the school system has posted a job for a Spanish/Italian teacher in the wake of LHS Italian teacher Lisa Giacalone’s upcoming retirement.
In addition to the World Language Department’s changes, Vogel said LHS science teachers will be teaching five classes next year instead of four.
“This means there will no longer be a double lab block,” said Vogel. “However, they will still offer a lab block for students. This makes the teaching load of the science teachers the same as the other teachers at the high school. Also, there is not a single high school in our area that offers a double lab block for science classes. Last year, we did a similar thing with the English Department when they were teaching four classes and we moved them to teach five.”
A small group of Lynnfield High science teachers attended the school board’s meeting, and they did not look happy when Vogel announced the changes to the Science Department.
In response to a question from School Committee member Jamie Hayman, Vogel said science labs are not being eliminated at LHS.
Vogel said the School Department is reallocating resources at LHS because its total enrollment has “declined by 83 students over the past five years.”
“As a result, we have decreased a full-time teaching equivalent from each of the five core content areas in the last three years,” said Vogel.
Vogel did not mention the LHS changes when she first presented the FY24 budget to the School Committee at the end of February and the Select Board in March. She said the district identified “efficiencies” and would “reallocate resources” in the next fiscal year.
While Hayman said he understands resources have to be allocated during the budget process, he said the LHS changes “shocked” students and families.
“We need to get that information out earlier and be more transparent about it,” said Hayman. “We haven’t really talked about the educational impact of the budget. I know we posted for an Italian and Spanish teacher, but I know schools throughout the commonwealth are having trouble finding single language teachers. I would ask that we have these conversations earlier in the budget process.”
School Committee Vice Chair Stacy Dahlstedt agreed.
“I know the timing was difficult because we didn’t know certain pieces of information, but I agree with Jamie that we should provide information as early as we can,” said Dahlstedt.
Vogel said she delayed releasing the information about the LHS changes because the budget process is fluid.
“I worry about being too specific too soon because this is very stressful and very hard for everybody involved,” said Vogel. “These are really, really hard decisions because these are not just positions, they are people. It’s a very difficult line to walk. When we are super clear about anything we have to do with around the budget, we are going to communicate early. We also didn’t have the governor’s budget this year until March 1 because last year was an election year. In a typical year, that would be January.”
School Committee Chair Rich Sjoberg recalled that Spring Town Meeting was held in May last year while this year will be on Monday, April 24.
“We had a shorter window between the budget presentation and Town Meeting” in 2023, said Sjoberg.
Hayman also inquired if LHS students will be able to take more electives with the science lab double block being eliminated.
“Students will be able to take other electives,” said Vogel.
Vogel said it has been frustrating for school officials to be “reallocating resources and not adding resources to areas where we want to grow.”
“Those areas are STEM, health education and elementary assistant principals,” said Vogel. “This is not just happening for us. This is happening in all districts in the commonwealth. We are in a cycle where we are constantly having to reallocate resources in order to open our doors, support our students and run our schools.”
House Minority Leader Brad Jones’ Deputy Chief of Staff/Communications Director Michael Smith informed the Villager in an email that Gov. Maura Healey filed a supplemental budget known as House Bill 3545 on March 17, and it was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee on March 20. The supplemental budget includes $75 million that would be used reimburse school districts for the skyrocketing out-of-district special education costs.
Vogel said the supplemental budget is “stalled right now,” and she criticized the proposed special education tuition reimbursement formula included in the supplemental budget.
“They are proposing that the reimbursement would be by a formula, which would mean that the 14 percent that we have had to pay must be equivalent of 25 percent of our out-of-district tuitions,” said Vogel. “This proposed formula would mean that we would get zero dollars reimbursed. With that formula, only one-third of districts in Massachusetts would receive reimbursement with this formula. We have asked them to change this to reimburse 100 percent of the 12 percent above our typical 2 percent increase for out-of-district tuitions, and for that money to come directly to schools this year.”
Vogel asked the School Committee, town officials and residents to call state lawmakers to advocate reimbursing the 12 percent to school districts in the supplemental budget. She also urged town officials and residents to urge state lawmakers to form a new commission that would be tasked with reviewing Chapter 71.
“Chapter 71 is the law that covers special education in Massachusetts,” said Vogel. “This law has not been reviewed in 51 years. The cost of supporting our special education students is not the same as it was 51 years ago. The needs of our students have changed in 51 years. Schools have adapted to meet their needs, and now is time for the state to adapt and revise Chapter 71. If we do not make changes to special education law and regulations in Massachusetts, we are going to find ourselves in a budget cycle for years to come where we cannot add resources in areas where we want and need to grow as a district. I am asking for all of your help in making phone calls asking this commission to be brought together along with the reimbursement of the 12 percent directly to schools.”
School Committee member Phil McQueen said the proposed funding formula “boggles my mind.” He asked who came up with the formula.
“We have no idea,” said Vogel. “It came out of the governor’s office.”
“So the governor is proposing this money that will actually fix the problem, and somebody has come up with a formula that won’t fix it? That’s insane,” said McQueen.
Sjoberg noted that the 14 percent out-of-district special education increase represents almost $500,000. He said Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Tom Geary was in the process of developing the FY24 school budget when OSD informed districts about the 14 percent increase.
“It was shocking,” said Sjoberg.
The School Department eliminated several aide and tutoring positions for the 2022-2023 academic year due to budget challenges. Those budget cuts were not made public until former LHS media center aide Frances Fleming requested that her job be reinstated at the School Committee’s FY23 public budget hearing last April.