Parents worry over anticipated cuts
Voter tax hike not seen as sure thing
School officials in Wayland are warning that if the town doesn't increase property taxes, major budget cuts will be required that would seriously reduce the quality of the school system.
The town's Finance Committee has asked all town departments to submit proposed budgets for next fiscal year that are 8 percent smaller than this year's budget.
The $2.5 million cut to schools would force them to lay off teachers, eliminate extracurricular activities, and end staff development, said Jeff Dieffenbach, chairman of the School Committee, which opposes the reductions.
''This plan chops the head off a school system," he said.
Charlie Schlegel, principal of Wayland Middle School, said he has already warned his librarian that she would be laid off if deep cuts were required. He said the possible cuts have worried parents and lowered morale among his staff, who feel overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to provide the same services to kids with fewer resources.
Michael Tichnor, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said it's too early for people to be worried. The process of developing a budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is just getting under way, he said. The Finance Committee was looking at a worst-case scenario when it asked for the budgets with 8 percent cuts, he said. And that scenario will likely not be the reality.
''It is wrong to panic," he said. ''If anyone is panicking, they shouldn't be, at this stage in the process."
Tichnor said cuts may be unnecessary if the town approves a Proposition 2 1/2 tax increase, which he believes his board will recommend.
State law limits increases in a tax levy to 2.5 percent plus allowances for new growth. Residents must vote to override the limit in order for the town to collect more in property taxes.
Tichnor said town departments were asked last year to present budgets with 5 percent cuts, but those cuts ended up being unnecessary. The selectmen recommended a $2.3 million override, and voters approved it.
Dieffenbach said he doubted the town would pass another override that would fully fund the schools, and he believed some cuts would be necessary.
''I don't know that there's going to be a way to avoid them all," he said.
Towns across Boston's western suburbs are in a budget bind, seeing decreased state aid coupled with rising health insurance and energy expenses.
For the Wayland schools to provide the same services next year as this year would require $1.4 million more for a total of $28.8 million, Dieffenbach said.
The School Committee considered three options to meet the 8 percent reduction target, including two plans that called for closing an elementary school.
The committee chose a third plan, which calls for reducing teaching staff by at least 18 full-time equivalent positions, eliminating school librarians, eliminating funding for middle and high school athletic programs and other extracurricular activities, and eliminating staff development programs. The layoff of teachers would increase class sizes.
Now that the School Committee has prepared a budget that calls for the requested cuts, members will get to work on another more generous budget that they feel is better for the schools, Dieffenbach said. 