WESTFIELD — At the start of the public hearing for the School Committee on April 28 in the Westfield Intermediate School auditorium, Mayor Michael McCabe gave an overview on the “big picture” of the school and city budget, detailing the main cost drivers, many of which he said are out of the city’s control, and the challenges the city still faces in balancing the budget.
McCabe was followed by Business Coordinator Shannon Barry who spoke about the rising costs in special education, transportation, utilities and contractual raises for the district that led to $5 million in reductions in staff and programs announced earlier this month.
School Committee Vice Chair Timothy O’Connor thanked everyone for their emails and passion in supporting their causes. He said the committee’s greatest responsibility is to build a sustainable budget. “We’ve had trouble doing that. COVID threw us for a loop, and ESSER funding ended this year, although the learning gaps haven’t stopped,” O’Connor said.
School Committee member Jeffrey Gunther said to him, it is a revenue issue. “If you look at districts our size, we are 45 out of 55 in funding our schools.” He said due to ESSER funding, the city did not increase its funding to the schools for several years, “and now we’re behind.”
The public was then invited to sign in and line up to speak. About 15 did, advocating for several programs that are slated to be reduced or eliminated altogether, including library paraprofessionals, instructional coaches at Westfield Middle School, virtual school teachers in Westfield High School, and staff positions at Munger Hill Elementary.
Some of the most vocal advocates were professionals, staff and students speaking on behalf of manufacturing technology at Westfield Technical Academy, which is losing one of four full-time teaching positions. Parents and former staff members of the Children’s Corner, the laboratory preschool at WHS which provides teaching experience for students interested in early childhood development, also spoke in favor of the program, which is on the chopping block.
Speaking first during public participation was David Beal, a library paraprofessional at Paper Mill Elementary School, who spoke about what schools lose with the reduction of library staffing.
“I’ve learned after 27 years in education, if you give kids access to books, they will read,” he said.
Beal said some of his students tell him they’ve never been to a public library. He said the school is the only place they can go to be surrounded by the world of literacy. “They’re excited to read. We find them books they want to read, and they’ll read them.” Beal said last year, the school loaned out 8,500 books and they are on track to circulate 10,000 this year.
Two high school freshmen also came forward to advocate for full-time library staffing to be restored at Westfield Middle School.
“Reconsider the cut to the librarian at Westfield Middle School. Librarians are very important to the school community, and there is a difference between part-time and full-time,” said Deirdre Matthews.
Lecia Nowak, a freshman at WHS, also advocated to keep the librarian at WMS. She said if the position were taken away, it would have a great impact on the students.
Debbie Auclair, former director of the Children’s Corner at WHS, said high school students earned six college credits in their work with the preschool. She said she believed that the laboratory preschool would be close to meeting the standards for a Chapter 74 career technical program.
Auclair’s remarks were in response to a discussion in the School Committee about the possibility of an early childhood CTE path for the laboratory preschool. Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said the idea was broached a few years ago, but there wasn’t an interest among staff at the time. Barry said the tuition of the program doesn’t cover its costs.
Children’s Corner teacher Torrie Hodovanec said she was one of those students that worked with the program in high school and went on to receive a master’s in education. “The program gave me an advantage,” she said, adding that her daughter attended the program two years ago. She said there is a strong sense of community with the laboratory preschool at WHS, where they have collaborated with culinary arts, horticulture and listened to the marching band practice. “The value of this program far outweighs the expense,” Hodovanec said.
Ann Farnham, a virtual school teacher at WHS whose position will be cut and replaced with a hybrid teacher attending to students online and in class, said there are 80 students in the virtual school. She said hybrid teaching was tried during the pandemic and doesn’t work well. “We monitor the students and use headphones,” she said, with which they can hear and speak better. She said in a hybrid situation, she believes the kids in the class will take priority. She said she also has high concern for the special education students in the virtual program.
Gavriella Serrano, a virtual school student, said she also has concerns about teachers teaching virtual and in class students at the same time. She said combining the two groups at once, both will be affected. “Behind every proposal are real students like me,” Serrano said.
Several speakers advocated to restore the planned cut to one of the full-time teachers in manufacturing technology at Westfield Technical Academy.
Gavin Giguere, director of manufacturing at Pilot Precision Products and vice president of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association, called himself a “proud graduate of manufacturing tech” in 2015. “I know firsthand the impact. We hire Westfield Technical Academy students,” he said, adding that he has concerns about the ripple effect on safety and precision. “Cutting an instructional position undermines programs,” Giguere said.
Kristin Carlson, president of Peerless Precision in Westfield, said her company has built a foundation from WTA and vocational students. “Gavin touched on safety. I want to talk about diversity. Younger women look for people who look like them and sound like them. We are seeing more and more young women and minorities entering the field. I am imploring you, if there’s any way to keep the fourth teacher,” Carlson said.
Ben Grande of the Meridian Industrial Group and president of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association said he represents 60 manufacturers. “A lot of those companies take employees from career technical education, and Westfield Technical Academy is the premier school,” Grande said.
Kyle Richardson, a junior in manufacturing at WTA compared having a teacher removed to getting a sub in for a day. “I just finished my second interview. I wouldn’t have the confidence or ability in the trade if all four teachers were not there,” he said.
Mona Rastegar, a parent at Munger Hill thanked the mayor and the School Committee for taking an hour at the beginning of the meeting to explain the details of the budget. She said eliminating two full-time staff at the school would impact test scores, and seems reckless at a time when Munger Hill will be incorporating two Fort Meadow classes and has an interim principal.
Rastegar also shared her concerns about the elimination of the laboratory preschool at WHS, and its “hands-on real world experience for high school students that wish to become teachers. “Why would we dismantle such a program,” she asked.
Munger Hill parent Stephanie Paul, who has twin boys, one of whom is in special education, suggested the School Committee shadow the educators “they feel are appropriate to cut.” Paul added that with special education and out-of-district tuition being brought up, “to me, it’s black and white. The more we invest in special education, that’s what’s going to save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Two instructional coaches at WMS whose positions are being cut also spoke.
“With proposed cuts in professional development, the role of instructional coaches is even more essential. As a parent in Westfield Public Schools, I want my children to be part of a district where teachers work closely with instructional coaches,” said Jacqueline Osowski.
Beth O’Connor said students who have teachers that work with instructional coaches find it essential to create an active and engaging student environment. “It’s crucial to making us feel connected,” O’Connor said.
Finally, foster parent Grace Taylor said foster parents see a lot of gaps in school systems, where only 50 percent of students in foster care graduate, and a smaller percentage go to college. “My children are vulnerable,” she said, adding that any cuts made to the regular classroom impact them. “I urge you to look at this as investing in our children.”
After everyone had spoken, McCabe said that the next regular School Committee meeting on May 5, at which they will vote on the budget, will begin with public participation. He said his full budget will be ready to go to the City Council on May 15, after which they will have 45 days to deliberate. He said the City Council can not add to his budget, but only make cuts.
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