WEST SPRINGFIELD – A West Springfield School Committee meeting was hosted on March 12 to discuss the FY20 budget. Superintendent Michael Richard was in attendance at the meeting to present to the School Committee and speak on behalf of the public schools and the requests made.

Richard started the presentation to the Committee by sharing with them that in the nine public schools in West Springfield there are a total of 4,113 students enrolled. Richard admitted that as of now, the school district is only partially meeting their targets on an accountability rating scale.

There are a total of six strategic objectives on the district improvement plan. These objectives are:

• Align the English Learner (EL) program to comply with policies and laws while ensuring that programming and curriculum are consistent with established standards relative to rigorous instruction, non-traditional pathways to high school completion, and the integration with Special Education.

• Design a system of student supports, which addresses the social-emotional, behavioral, academic, and language needs of all students.

• Expand the model of Inclusion for Special Education students and English Language Learners.

• Provide alternative pathways for students to complete diploma requirements.

• Improve special education services that effectively meet student needs in all grade levels.

• Expand outreach to families and community partners.

In order to achieve these objectives the budget request is $45,459,367. That budget request is an increase of 4.47 percent from the FY19 budget.

“All budgetary requests are rooted in the District Improvement Plan, School Improvement Plan and class size reduction” Richard commented.

There were 19 requests included in the presentation that were brought to the School Committee’s attention. The full list of these requests can be found at www.wsps.org

“All requests are grounded in different areas including Special Education, English Learners, class size reduction and other social-emotional learning of students,” Richard explained.

Richard continued in mentioning that the budget request for FY20 does not include nearly $1 million in other recourses that the school and district identified as helpful in improving student achievement. Richard explained that the $1 million was not included in this budget request not because they did not feel these recourses are important but because they wanted to be respectful of the process, of the need of the town, and the resources that are available. Richard concluded that by not asking for that extra $1 million that this truly is a need-based budget request.

Richard included in his presentation how the nine schools are doing overall. He made the comparison that the enrollment number in West Springfield Public Schools has increased by 245 students since the 2011-2012 school year – that’s about the size of Tatham Elementary School.

“In the last seven years we’ve watched our school district increase by an entire school” Richard said.

Richard further explained that with this growth came a decline in spending per pupil. During the 2016-2017 school year the spending per student decreased by $130 for each individual pupil. When compared to other schools in the LPVEC Districts, West Springfield comes in last for how much is spent on each student in the school system. The other six schools in the district saw an increase in spending the same year West Springfield experienced a decrease.

“You know, were doing good work, and sometimes we do really good work with a little,” Richard commented. “We’re proud of that. The students step up, the staff steps up, the administrators step up and the community steps up as well to make sure the students have the support that they need.”

Richard continued to outline some highlights from this past school year which included, the graduation rate being 93.5 percent, state champion athletes for swimming and wrestling and implementing an AP Capstone Program.

Richard concluded his presentation with three final thoughts, that this is a need based budget request, this budget request aligns with he District Improvement Plan and the vision of West Springfield Public Schools and lastly that adequate and appropriate funding of the schools should be the priority of the community.

Mayor Reichelt opened up the podium to the public so their voices could be heard in regards to this budget plan. The residents who came forward to speak were extremely concerned in how West Springfield Public Schools are stacking up in comparison to other schools in the district.

“While I applaud some of these budget items, I still challenge you to present a budget which works towards ensuring our per pupil spending is within the state average or similar to surrounding communities,” resident Erin Lukenbill shared.

“Our schools are crumbling and bursting at the seams. Arts and music education are being pushed to the margins at the elementary level despite the vital role it plays in promoting academic achievement and developing social-emotional skills. I know that getting our spending levels to the increased levels is a multi year plan, but as a community we need from you, we need from our superintendent a vision on how we plan to get to the level our community deserves,” Lukenbill said.

Seven other residents came forward to share their thoughts on the budget and they were all concerned with similar issues of spending per pupil.

For more information on the FY20 budget, the presentation and meeting can be found at www.wsps.org.