ORANGE — One month ahead of the annual Town Meeting, the Selectboard has voted to support slashing the elementary schools’ requested budget increase, while preserving the town’s libraries.
The motion voted Wednesday stated the Selectboard will support no more than a $300,000 increase in funding for the elementary schools, rather than the schools’ requested nearly $600,000 (9 percent) increase over last year.
As rationale, Selectboard members pointed to a lack of justification from school officials for hiring 11 new staff during the school year. The Finance Committee is going to recommend a tax override this year amid fiscal struggles, and without justification for new hires, Selectboard members reasoned it would be unfair to ask voters to front more money.
“I have little interest in funding the schools with an override,” said Selectboard Chairman Ryan Mailloux. “As a taxpayer, I’m kind of feeling shoved around.”
At a joint meeting between the Selectboard and Finance Committee Wednesday, the current budget situation was discussed. Last week, the Finance Committee said it would be recommending a Proposition 2½ tax override to cover a roughly $730,000 budgetary shortfall — a gap between the town’s revenue and departments’ requested budgets for the next fiscal year beginning July 1.
As of Wednesday, the Finance Committee is still planning on recommending an override — just a smaller one. Finance Committee Chairman Keith LaRiviere said the Finance Committee has been discussing making cuts to requested department budgets that would bring the override number down to around $470,000.
The smaller override request is made possible by slashing the elementary schools’ requested budget, which the Selectboard voted to support. A lack of transparency from the schools was a frequent topic of discussion Wednesday.
The School Committee last week reported that nine new hires had been made during the school year, driving their requested budget increase. The hires were not thoroughly explained, drawing some skepticism from members of both the Finance Committee and Selectboard.
At Wednesday’s meeting, it was revealed the elementary schools had hired 11 new staff mid-year, not nine, drawing more criticism toward the schools’ budgeting process.
The new hires were brought in “based on needs that presented at the school during the year,” said school Finance Director Dan Haynes.
Wrigley said he has heard the new hires were related to misbehavior at Fisher Hill Elementary School. During the school year, Fisher Hill had frequent problems with student misbehavior in kindergarten and first grade, with teachers and parents reporting violent students throwing things like chairs and destroying classrooms, threatening teachers and even stabbing other students with pencils. Classrooms were frequently evacuated to other parts of the school — one teacher cited this happening on around 30 occasions — to keep students away from potentially dangerous peers.
Principal Maureen Donelan, during the disruptions, was placed on paid administrative leave in October after nearly seven years on the job. She was ultimately fired in March, despite strong public support — including letters of support and downtown protests — and having been cleared of allegations of abuse and neglect by the state. There was no explanation from school officials, who cited the need for confidentiality, on the firing, and little details about the classroom disruptions.
Wrigley said the schools would have to give some details to justify the 11 new mid-year hires, including the hires’ connection to problems at Fisher Hill and how the hires will fix things, before asking voters to foot the bill.
“I’d like to know the nature and extent of the problems that precipitated the 11 new hires,” Wrigley said, asking for a written explanation from the School Committee. “With the new hires, that’s 11 percent (staffing increase) in one year. I’ve been in this business almost 30 years, I haven’t seen such a thing.”
Wrigley added the lack of communication from school officials has “engendered unfounded fear and speculation… a little news out to the public might have helped some.”
“I’m kind of over wondering who got hired, and what they do and whether they are needed or not,” said Selectboard Vice Chairwoman Jane Peirce. “When the fire chief wanted to hire personnel for the SAFER grant, we got detailed, precise analysis.”
Peirce put forward the motion to support limiting a spending increase for the schools to $300,000, after a discussion indicating that other departments, like the libraries, are affected when the town is forced to make cuts to support the schools.
The new hires include classroom teachers, special education paraprofessionals, an additional guidance counselor and a classroom paraprofessional. Finance Committee member Anthony Leger said the hires represent a significant investment from the town, given they affect other areas of the town’s finances like health insurance.
School Committee member Alex Schwanz, who was attending Wednesday’s meeting, was given a chance to respond to the Selectboard’s and Finance Committee’s criticisms, and said, “I’ve been a little disappointed, especially about the political issue here. There’s been little discussion about the education of students.”
Orange’s schools take up a majority — last year, around 55 percent of the $20 million grand total — of the budget. The elementary schools alone are asking for $6,953,117, a $577,473 increase (9 percent) over this year. Despite the Selectboard rejecting an increase of that magnitude, there will still be a need for a Proposition 2½ tax override.
Proposition 2½ is a state statute that, if passed, it allows the town to raise more money than normally allowed from real estate and personal property taxes. The Proposition 2½ override must be approved by voters as a ballot question in an election, but towns may pass budgets contingent on an override passing before such an election.
LaRiviere said the Finance Committee has already discussed lowering the schools’ requested increase to $300,000 — a 4.5 percent increase, rather than 9 percent — and said the Selectboard supporting such a measure was helpful in developing the budget. LaRiviere warned that if an override fails, the Finance Committee has discussed lowering the elementary schools’ budgetary increase even further, to about $150,000, a roughly 2.5 percent increase, “which is the same increase that every other department is being held to.”
Orange’s annual Town Meeting is on June 17, when the budget is expected to be voted.