Budget may force school staff cuts

Proposal would eliminate nine teachers

forcing some class sizes to grow
By:Sally Goldenberg
   Nine teaching positions will be removed from the Hillsborough School District if the Board of Education approves recommended cuts from an ad hoc committee, comprised of board members and district administrators.
   The board will vote on the suggested cuts, which total $1.16 million, on Tuesday in the high school auditorium. The reductions include five new and four existing teachers, funding for legal services and three new sports teams.
   "It pained us greatly to have to put this list together," ad hoc committee member Chris Pulsifer said during Monday’s board meeting.
   Voters rejected the $85.3 million budget 1,922 to 1,347 on April 15, following months of public criticism by dozens of residents who said they could not afford the 10 percent hike in the total tax levy over the 2002-03 budget.
   With a $1.16 million reduction, the average homeowner whose property is assessed at $325,000 will pay $5,405 in school taxes next year — a $158 increase over this year’s average school tax bill of $5,247.
   The board has repeated that it would preserve academic items in the spending plan, which would have raised $56.8 million in property taxes.
   But when the Township Committee – which must make recommendations for a failed school budget – voted 3-1 on May 13 to cut $1.16 million, the board had few options that were noneducational, ad hoc committee member Steven Sloan said.
   "We were faced with all really program-type of items," Mr. Sloan said at the meeting. "We considered the athletics. These are not really large items to come to that number of $250,000."
   The suggested cut raised a few eyebrows.
   Removing five new teachers, who are slated to offset an anticipated enrollment hike of 141 high school students next year, will impair the quality of education in the district, said Triangle Road resident Tony Risoli.
   "Thirty years all I’ve heard from this board is the education of our kids. That’s your job. That’s what you’ve been elected to do," Mr. Risoli told the board.
   The board should "think outside the box" and find cuts that will not impact education, he said.
   "Save education. Do away with all athletics for a year," he added.
   The cuts would translate into the loss of an SAT prep course that serves 56 students in math and 60 in verbal, a public speaking course attended by 60 students and a creative writing course that enrolls 53 students, according to a document prepared by high school Principal Doug Poye.
   Class size will increase across the board next year, with varying increases. A health class of 30 students will enroll 35, environmental science courses will jump in enrollment from 17.7 to 27 students and a college-preparatory history class will enroll 26.5 instead of 24.9, according to Mr. Poye.
   Board member Wolfgang Schneider, a former science teacher in the district, said the class size increases may be dangerous in science labs, which are typically constructed for 24 students.
   "There is a safety issue and there’s a crowding issue," Mr. Schneider said at the meeting. "It’s not a safe situation. It’s not a good educational environment."
   Mr. Schneider’s concerns were followed by similar ones from board members David Kanaby and Edward Plaskon.
   Mr. Plaskon emphasized the projected enrollment increase in the high school.
   "When you have a high school that large you have to adequately staff it and I cannot agree with eliminating these five teachers," he said at the meeting.
   The ad hoc committee will tweak its suggestions during a closed meeting on Friday and bring a final list of recommended cuts to the board on Tuesday.