A shared education dilemma

Teacher layoffs could be looming in Beverly, Gloucester, Salem, and Peabody as the school districts struggle to cover higher special education costs and rising fuel prices without any additional help from the state, according to local superintendents.

In the coming weeks, the four cities will decide how to close their deficits, estimated at $1.4 million in Salem, $1.5 million in Gloucester, and $2.3 million in Peabody.

Hardest hit, however, could be Beverly, which has battled to keep its budget in the black since 2003, when its state funding was reduced from $7.6 million to $6.1 million a year. Since then, the city has sold two former fire stations and a school building to help prevent layoffs. But in the last two years, the school district has buckled under financial pressure, eliminating 58 full-time equivalent positions. Also, last year it closed a middle school to save $1 million.

Despite these measures, things look even bleaker this year, according to Beverly Superintendent James Hayes Jr. and the School Committee's president, Nancy Brusil. Over the next month, Hayes and the School Committee say, they must find a way to cut $3.3 million to balance next year's $41.4 million budget.

''It's going to be devastating. The only way you can significantly reduce a budget is by cutting staff," said Hayes.

He will present a preliminary plan for balancing the budget at two meetings this week. The first meeting, with the School Committee, will be held at the former Memorial school on Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m. On Thursday, Hayes will make a presentation to the School Committee and the City Council at 7 p.m. at the senior center.

According to Hayes, special education, transportation, health insurance, heat and utilities, and contractual obligations to teachers make up most of the $3.3 million in overruns. ''We're down to the bone here in terms of the kind of resources we have in order to deliver a good quality education. We're doing it but we're at a point where there's very little more to give without hurting kids and programs," said Hayes.

Hayes and Brusil acknowledged that class sizes would grow if the district cuts dozens of teachers.

One plan, floated by Brusil, calls for reconfiguring the city's six elementary schools into upper and lower schools. Under the plan, pupils in K-2 would attend three lower schools, and those in grades 3-5would attend the other three schools. If adopted, said Brusil, eight teachers would be eliminated, saving the city about $500,000 a year. It would also increase class size to as many as 29 students.

Catherine Boudreau, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said larger classes demand more from a teacher. ''Something's got to give and the education of the kids suffers," she said. ''You're trying to teach more kids and you've got lots of different learning styles and it's impossible to spend the amount of time with a class size that's large."

Like Beverly, administrators in Gloucester, Peabody and Salem are also preparing for the possibility of layoffs.

''Everything is on the table," said Gloucester's superintendent, Christopher Farmer.

Over the last five years, Gloucester has had to reduce its full-time teaching staff by 49. With a $500,000 increase in out-of-district special education costs, and $1 million more allocated for teacher's salaries next year, Farmer has to cut at least $1.5 million from next year's budget. The School Committee will meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Fuller School to discuss its spending plan.

Besides cutting teachers, Farmer said, he is considering assigning just one principal to cover several elementary schools, increasing user fees for students, charging for bus service, and cutting the tuition-free kindergarten classes.

In Peabody, Superintendent Nadine Binkley faces making cuts totaling $2.3 million over the next few weeks. The shortfall stems from a $1.5 million increase in out-of-district special education costs and a 12 percent, or $816,500, increase in the district's health insurance costs, she said.

''The costs keep going up and up and up, and it doesn't seem like there's any end in sight," Binkley said.

Scheduled to discuss the budget at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Binkley said most of the cuts in her district would come from layoffs. It would be the first significant school layoffs in Peabody since 2003, when 37 staff positions were cut.

Salem Superintendent Larry Callahan is also considering laying off some staff, just months after cutting 35 positions and $1.4 million from the budget to help ease the city's financial crisis and cover special education cost overruns.

With a $42.1 million budget, Callahan's out-of-district special education bill will rise to $6 million next year, an increase of $900,000 over this year, with 135 students in the program. He said the district would also pay higher rates for electricity, gas, and a new transportation contract.

Callahan acknowledged that with the budget shortfall, it may not be possible to hire back some of the staff cut during the year, including as many 20 teaching assistants. Callahan, however, said he was committed to keeping as many teachers as he could.

''Cutting a full-time teacher is a last resort," he said.