WEST SPRINGFIELD – On April 3, the West Springfield School Committee approved a budget of $43.1 million for fiscal year 2019 – nearly a 4 percent increase over the current budget.

The spending plan passed unanimously, and includes hiring additional teachers to aid the district’s growing population, tending to the social and emotional needs of students by adding new counselor positions, meeting the negotiated raises for all school district employees – totaling at around $1.2 million – and increasing the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative tuition to around $91,000. The tuition increase reflects a three-year rolling average, Superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools Michael Richard noted during the committee hearing.

“We’re obviously pleased that the School Committee supported the budget I presented to them, it’s a very collaborative effort to get us there,” Richard later told Reminder Publications. “While the budget doesn’t include everything we would want, it addresses our immediate needs for FY19.”

The superintendent also emphasized aiding the growing number of English language learners, as mandated by An Act Relative to Language Opportunity for Our Kids (LOOK), which includes adding a half-time position for the students at William Cowing Elementary School.  He then touched on an additional Section 504 Coordinator/Learning Center Facilitator for special education at West Springfield High School, which would address the increasing number of students struggling with extended medical leaves, among other types of leave.

With a growing immigrant population, West Side continues to diversify. More than 29 percent of the 4,332 students in the nine-school district didn’t learn English as a first language. The district demographics break down to 70 percent white, 16.5 percent Hispanic, 7.2 percent Asian and 3.6 percent black.

Over 19 percent of West Side students have disabilities, 55.7 percent have “high needs,” and almost 44 percent come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, according to a presentation delivered by Richard.

“We are not the community that we were 20 years ago,” said Richard. “We continue to evolve, to change, to embrace diversity all across the board, from English language learners to students with disabilities to those who are economically disadvantaged. We are educating all and doing it well.”

Over the last seven years, WSPS is the only district that has demonstrated consistent enrollment growth on an annual basis. While a growing population in the city’s classrooms means additional funding from the state in the form of Chapter 70 funds – $1.5 million for fiscal 2019 – those funds do not account for the recent influx of Puerto Rican evacuees. There are currently 81 evacuee students living in West Springfield as a result of Hurricane Maria.

Classroom space and accommodating the evacuees have been the greatest challenges for WSPS, said Richard. Although Gov. Charlie Baker allocated around $15 million in fiscal 2018 to help with the evacuees, it remains unclear how long the funding will last and how much West Side will receive for fiscal 2019 – which begins July 1.

“There is still some uncertainty as to whether there will be any definitive end date for the funding,” said Richard. “It should be noted, though, that we continue to see a high degree of trauma from those students, resulting in some challenges in terms of getting them focused on the work at hand and acquiring English,” Richard said.

Despite these obstacles, WSPS continues to push through and be successful. Some positive developments in the district include an all-time high graduation rate of 89.6 percent and an all-time low dropout rate of 1.2 percent – compared to the 67.4 percent graduation rate and 6 percent dropout rate ten years ago.

The superintendent said he hopes the mayor and town council will support the budget request.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us and people are stretched pretty thin, so any opportunity to allow people to do the things that they are best equipped to do and well-trained to do, we should give them those chances,” he said.