East Longmeadow School Committee making changes to maintain a level services budget

June 16, 2021 | Miasha Lee

The East Longmeadow School Committee met on June 7 to discuss the districts budget.
Photo Credit:?ELCAT

EAST LONGMEADOW – At the East Longmeadow School Committee’s June 7 meeting, Superintendent Gordon Smith shared some highlights from the high school’s senior week.

In reference to the committee members’ comments at the beginning of the meeting on how positive the East Longmeadow High School (ELHS) graduation was, Smith expressed, “As people were saying in their comments, it was somewhat of a return to normalcy.  It was what we can consider not only a great celebration, but also a nice victory over the year of COVID.”

The senior class of 2021 had their graduation rehearsal where they took photos and picked up their yearbooks. There was a dedication to East Longmeadow alum Mr. Abel Lee, a social studies teacher at the high school. The seniors attended their prom and had their graduation outside. The school was able to open up their bleachers giving families the opportunity to view the ceremony.

During the course of the meeting, there was an ongoing discussion about the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget update. Town departments during the budget development process this year were asked to develop a budget that reflected level services and contractual obligations for FY22. The school department’s budget request was for level services with a 2.78 percent increase. The town Financial Oversight Committee recommended a 1.5 percent increase for the school department budget in FY22.  The Town Council approved a town budget for FY22 with the 1.5 percent increase for the school department.  

Smith stated, “It’s still an increase. Unfortunately, it will not cover level services so it’s not something that will sustain all programming moving forward for next year.”  He continued, “Due to the fact that the 1.5 percent increase will not cover level services, we are reviewing all areas of our budget in order to cover the approximately $404,000 difference. No reduction from a level services budget is implemented without some impact to programming. This will involve leaving some positions unfilled that may be open due to retirement or resignation.”

Over the last 10 years, the budget has been averaging roughly a 2.22 percent increase. During his tenure, Smith mentioned any time they increase by below two percent they had to eliminate four positions because there was an increase to their budget that year of 1 percent. At that point, it was closer to a three percent or more increase and the committee reduced it by over $900,000 because everyone was concerned with the potential fiscal challenges that might come with COVID-19.

In moving forward, Smith said they are working toward a solution with the town. They eliminated five positions, two being an assistant principal and instructional technology specialist at the high school. A foreign language teacher and literacy support teacher at Birchland Park Middle School and a shared academic literacy coach weren’t with them this school year and won’t be with them in the next school year because they had submitted as requested a level services budget.

The meeting continued with a reminder of the School Committee reorganization meeting on July 1 at 2:30 p.m. All positions will be reorganized and participation on subcommittees will also be reviewed.  

At the end of the meeting, the committee approved a new three-year contract for the 2021-2024 school years with the East Longmeadow Education Association.

They also approved the use of East Longmeadow High School grounds for the National Night Out event on Aug. 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. sponsored by the East Longmeadow Police and Fire Department and East Longmeadow Cable Access Television for which Don Maki is the director.

The committee also accepted the draft for the 2021-2022 school year calendar with the changes of the half-day Pre-K-5 parent conferences on Feb. 8 moving it to Feb. 9 and the half-day on March 10 be moved to March 9.

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