School Committee votes to restore $3.4 million to budget

By Kathryn Eident
Globe Correspondent

The School Committee voted 5-1 Wednesday night to ask the City Council to restore nearly all of the money cut from their approved $63 million budget. Vice Chairman Robert Cincotta voted against the motion.

The vote asks for $3.4 million to be put back, excluding only two staff cuts the School Committee made last week. Members voted to eliminate the human resources and fine arts directors at a special meeting, saving the district nearly $200,000.

Member Michael O’Halloran made the motion to restore the funds, saying the School Committee needed to ensure changes in the school system are made with care and deliberation.

“If we don’t restore the money you will see ordered chaos,” he said. “I’m trying not to have a fire sale of decisions about Waltham’s schools.”

Cincotta disagreed, saying the School Committee has a responsibility to all taxpayers, not just those who have children in the school system.

“We represent all people, and we have the responsibility to those people to be fiscally responsible,” he said. “To blindly restore the money to buy time—I don’t think that’s fiscally responsible.”

The discussion and subsequent vote came after a handful of parents asked School Committee members to consider restoring the funds during the public hearing.

Susan Burstein, a former School Committee member, made an impassioned speech imploring the School Committee to consider the impacts of the cuts, eliciting applause from the parents and teachers seated in the audience.

“There is absolutely no reason…that the School Committee shouldn’t be asking the City Council to restore these funds,” she said. “We need to do everything we can to maintain services and not lose ground. The budget that’s before the City Council is unacceptable—and the real crime is that it’s unnecessary.”

If the City Council votes to put back the funds, they could do so by either taking money from other city departments, or by raising property taxes under Proposition 2 1/2, according to Mayor Jeannette McCarthy.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the entire $198 million budget at their regular meeting on Monday, June 22.

School Superintendent Dr. Peter Azar also presented the School Committee with a final list of teacher layoffs, naming 30 teachers who will not be hired back.

Last month, Azar sent out layoff notices to 163 untenured teachers in the district. After considering both the positions the district needs filled and each teacher’s qualifications, Azar has recommended the district hire 133 teachers back and will begin the process in the coming days.