Bigger classes trigger concern
Friday, September 25, 2009
By JEANETTE DeFORGE
jdeforge@repub.com
HOLYOKE - The City Council is requesting information about class sizes and the number of teachers who were laid off, with the idea of restoring some teacher positions if funding is available.
In August, the City Council voted on an order to request information on teacher layoffs and class sizes. The School Committee received the order and discussed it in their meeting this week.
"What does this City Council order mean?" asked School Committee member Dennis W. Birks Jr.
He and other members said they hoped it may mean the City Council is willing to assist in replacing some of the positions cut when the school budget of about $76 million was adopted in June. A total of 106 jobs were eliminated through layoffs, resignations and retirements. They included teachers, administrators, custodians and teacher assistants.
By state law, the city is required to spend a minimum amount of money on the schools and it typically does not spend more, but it can with mayoral and City Council approval. The state funds about 90 percent of the school budget.
"The is a step in the right direction," Birks said. "We will need the help."
City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain said he filed the order more as a parent of children who are in kindergarten, first-grade and pre-school in the public schools. He said he sees class sizes increasing in Lt. Clayre P. Sullivan School, where his two older children are students.
The city's free cash fund, which is money left unspent at the end of the fiscal year, is available and Jourdain said the City Council may be able to use some of that to rehire some teachers reduce class sizes.
"My order is focused on teachers," he said. Adding he knows other employees, such as custodians, are also important but he wanted to focus specifically on the classroom.
But Jourdain said his order is two-fold. He also wants to push school officials to move quickly from offices rented at 57 Suffolk St. to the half-empty H.B. Lawrence School. While it is estimated to cost $870,000 to renovate the school to create offices, the move would save $400,000 a year in rent and other expenses and would be recouped in two years.
He is also pushing the committee to decide if it will use the vacant John J. Lynch School or if it can be turned over to the city and sold.
School Committee members said they are concerned about how budget cuts have affected educational programs across the city.
Committee member Michael J. Moriarty said parents have complained to him about a third-grade class with 30 students and health classes in some of the kindergarten through eighth-grade schools have been severely cut.
While extra money would be welcome, the City Council cannot by law tell the School Committee how to spend the funds, said Mayor Michael J. Sullivan, who also serves as the committee chairman.
Re-Elect Holyoke's Fiscal Watchdog!
