School cuts spur parents to action

When Georgetown school officials last month began considering the job cuts the district faces due to the defeat of a property tax increase, Scott Jones decided to take matters into his own hands.

The father of four Georgetown schoolchildren, Jones organized a private fund-raising drive that has collected over $18,000 to help save classroom positions -- teachers, aides, and specialists -- that would otherwise be cut.

The $1.1 million Proposition 2 1/2 override, 71 percent of which was to have gone to the School Department, failed by 17 votes at the May 14 annual town election.

"I started looking at this and said, where all these people in town voted for the override expecting to pay hundreds of dollars in additional taxes, most of it going to the schools, maybe some of those people would contribute money to the schools," Jones said.

"And the people in town who voted against the override for a variety of reasons, maybe some of them would contribute something targeted to the schools."

According to the school district's superintendent, Larry Borin, the department faces the need to cut the equivalent of 7.8 full-time positions, of which 4.2 are instructional jobs. The cutbacks would be accomplished by eliminating some jobs and reducing hours in others, Borin said. A total of $213,837 is needed to restore all the cuts to instructional positions.

Jones said the School Committee, which has endorsed his fund-raising efforts, on May 31 told him he had until June 15 to raise the funds needed to prevent the cuts. But he said the panel opted on June 14 to proceed with the planned cuts, and then to decide in July which positions it might restore, based on available funds.

The new timetable has given Jones's group, Save the Teachers, more time for its fund-raising campaign. As of last week, it had raised $18,280 from 72 residents and businesses.

Following the School Committee meeting on June 14, the district sent "pink slip" notices to employees affected by job eliminations or hour reductions.

In addition to any funds raised by Save the Teachers, the School Committee could seek to restore the pending job cuts by drawing upon $200,000 in free, or available, cash allotted to the district by annual Town Meeting last month, according to Borin, who is leaving his post Friday. He said the committee is weighing how much, if any, of the free cash to use for that purpose.

"I think the fact that Scott has put together an initiative to try to secure funds in order to restore some of the positions that are lost is terrific," Borin said, "because ultimately that will impact what takes place in the classroom for students day in and day out."

Save the Teachers has appealed for funds through phone calls and e-mails, and by handing out fliers.

The schools have also helped spread the word, with the middle school e-mailing its parents, and the two elementary schools sending home flyers in student backpacks.

Jones said he is pleased with the initial results, considering the limited time involved and that most of the effort has been carried out by five volunteers.

He said it was striking that the donors have included people on both sides of the property- tax increase debate, as well as those who have children in the schools and those who do not.

"I feel very good that this has not been a polarizing effort," he said.

But the campaign has generated some concerns.

Elisabeth Tollman, who chaired the ballot committee that promoted passage of the override of Proposition 2 1/2, the state's tax-limiting law, expressed mixed sentiments about the fund-raising effort.

Tollman said she believes the campaign is premature since the incoming superintendent, Carol C. Jacobs, could potentially make budget adjustments restoring some of the cuts. And philosophically, she said, "It's not correct that parents should have to . . . fund-raise money to pay for teacher positions." She said parents, through user fees, are already paying more than their fair share of school costs.

Yet as a parent concerned about the academic achievement of students, Tollman said she supports any effort to prevent job losses. She said she would prefer that any private dollars be raised through the Georgetown Education Foundation, on whose board she sits.

While the foundation's funds cannot be used for teacher salaries -- it can only spend funds on one-time items for school district's sciences, art, or technology programs -- it could indirectly help restore teacher jobs by freeing up money in other parts of the budget, Tollman said.

Jones agreed that a private fund drive is not a "perfect" solution to the school district's money needs. Even if this year's cuts are restored, he wondered, "Where is the funding going to come from next year? Do we do this all over again?

"Frankly, unless the state makes some fundamental change in how they are distributing money to education, come next year Georgetown will be in the same position it is now."

But, Jones said, "Personally, I looked at this thing, and I said, 'I can't sit back and watch the schools decay another year, watch the kids suffer, and do nothing.' "