School officials contemplate middle school budget options

May 5, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Members of the School Committee’s Finance Subcommittee met with Williams Middle School Principal Taylor Wrye and district leaders on May 3 to discuss four potential options for schedules for students and teachers based on budget decisions.  

The different options are the grades 7 and 8 schedule include cutting the entire four team of teachers at the school, maintaining the existing staffing levels, creating a 0.6 full-time equivalent teaching staff. All four teachers would remain in the district, but they would teach three sessions each day – two seventh grade classes and one eighth grade class. The fourth option would be to keep two full teaching positions and cut the remaining two.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Thomas Mazza told Reminder Publications after the meeting regardless of which option were chosen by the School Committee at its May 9 meeting, the district would utilize special one-time revenues for the fiscal year 2017 (FY17) budget.

“What is budgeted is [option No. 2],” he noted. “But, this is showing it all at Williams where as the budget has them split between the two middle schools.”

 He added the School Committee determined the interruptions to the learning environment outweigh the benefit of having a traveling team of teachers work at both schools.  

Mazza said during the meeting option one would save the district an estimated $220,000, option two would yield no savings, the third option would create $85,000 in savings by eliminating 0.4 FTE, and the final option would result in approximately $110,000 in savings by cutting two teaching positions.  

Under the first option class sizes in Grade 7 would range from 23 to 30 students, according to information from the district. The second option would include one class size with 8 students and another with nine, while the most common classes would consist of 14-20 students. One class could consist of 27 students. The third option would entail class size of 16 to 21 students, with two classes consisting of 27 students, and the final option would have a high number of students in two course subjects, ranging from 22 to 28 students, while other subjects would consist of class sizes of 10 to 20 students.

Wrye said he presented the information with his school’s council and staff, which came to a consensus that the second option is the most ideal one.

“They would prefer to keep things as status quo,” he noted.

Wrye also listed the pros and cons of each option. Under option one, there would be large class sizes and the middle school model would be maintained. The second option would also maintain the middle school low and keep class sizes low. Options three and four would not support the middle school model.

“The middle school model is something that I feel is very beneficial for the students because it really focuses on the whole child and it allows for adults to work and focus on one child,” he added. “It gives them the time where they can talk together where they can talk about various issues and needs.”

School Committee member Kimberly King asked Wrye what his second most preferred option would be.

He responded by stating, the third option is what the school has been planning for.

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