Malden schools lose 52 positions in new budget

Malden schools will face tough cuts in the new fiscal year.

By Travis Andersen
Town Correspondent

The fiscal year beginning Wednesday will bring deep cuts to the schools in Malden, which Mayor Richard Howard says could cause lasting damage to the city.

The Council approved a $118.4 million budget for fiscal 2010 on Tuesday, down from $130.1 million in fiscal 2009. It now goes to Howard’s desk for signing. He plans to sign it, but not without concern for the schools.

“The service that puts the community in the best position to succeed is public education,” Howard said. “Somehow we want to make sure we get back on track (financially) to deliver the best (school) services to our constituents.”

In the meantime, the schools will lose 52 positions, including several teacher layoffs. Howard couldn’t say how many teachers would go, and Superintendent Sidney Smith did not return messages.

The schools will receive $48.9 million this year, a $2 million reduction. They'll also receive $1.5 million from a federal stimulus grant. But Howard said the state – which administered the grant while cutting $800,000 in direct education aid to Malden this year – will likely run out of school stimulus funds by fiscal 2011.

“That state’s shot at getting its fiscal house in order is really only a year away,” he said, adding that “big ticket” items such as health care reform have stretched state coffers thin. The state slashed about $6.2 million in total aid to Malden this year.

Howard said cuts to the Fire Department will also hurt. The department will receive $8.6 million this year, a $176,350 reduction. Chief Michael Murphy said at a recent budget meeting that the reduction would put a rescue truck out of commission. He did not return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.

The police will receive about $8.1 million this year, down from $8.7 million. Chief Kenneth Coye told a Council committee last week that he felt good about the budget, since a federal grant and cost saving measures would help him avoid layoffs.

The budget also projects a $2 million revenue infusion from a controversial pay-as-you-throw trash fee, which residents have placed on the November ballot for possible repeal.

Howard has repeatedly said the city would see more layoffs if the repeal passed. Bob Miller, head of the citizens group Malden Taxpayers for Accountability, which is leading the repeal drive, has dismissed the warning as a “scare tactic.”