The inability of the city of Gloucester and its schools to fully close a $6.1 million shortfall between the cost of a level-service budget and increased funding provided by the city may mean the loss of 41 positions across the school district.
Driven by skyrocketing out-of-district special education tuition and transportation costs, inflation, and the ending of federal COVID-19 relief funding, the schools administration says what costs $49.74 million to provide to Gloucester students this school year will cost $55.85 million next school year.
The change represents an increase of nearly 12.3%, or $6.1 million, in the fiscal 2025 school operating budget.
Superintendent Ben Lummis told the School Committee the city has indicated it can fund $3 million of the proposed $6.1 million increase.
The city plans to do so through a combination of a $1.5 million supplemental appropriation and some one-time funding for the current fiscal year, which is money that can be used to offset prepaid tuition and special education costs for next year, and a $1.5 million increase in the schools’ operating budget for fiscal 2025 that begins July 1.
However, the funding shift would still leave a $3.1 million gap to maintain level services.
Facing a $2 million to $3 million shortfall, Lummis told the School Committee the effects could include:
A loss of the house structure at O’Maley Innovation Middle School.
Increased class sizes at O’Maley and Gloucester High coupled with reductions to areas of performing and visual arts, business, technology and physical education.
Elementary art, music and physical education specialists and some social emotional learning supports.
“So again, we don’t know if we are here yet,” Lummis said. “Yeah, well, we are here right now, OK, whether we end up here, we don’t know, we are still working on it.
“It doesn’t mean all these areas are affected. We have to look at all of those and see where we can make changes.”
He said the effect on social emotional learning programs will not mean all of those supports will go away “but some will.”
With 83% of the schools’ operating costs tied up in personnel expenses, Lummis said cost reductions are found through staff cuts.
For the first time, he outlined those cuts by school building, the number of positions and reduction in salary costs:
Preschool, four positions, $225,000.
Beeman, four positions, $200,000.
East Veterans, five positions, $275,000.
Plum Cove, three positions, $125,000.
West Parish, four positions, $200,000.
O’Maley, nine positions, $550,000.
Gloucester High, eight positions, $550,000.
District, four positions, $275,000.
This adds up to cost savings of $2.3 million. Lummis said the reductions are made up of a broad range of positions, not just teachers. Some positions can be moved to grants and positions of staff who leave or retire will not be filled.
More savings would come through savings from benefits of laid-off employees, moving services and supports to grants, and reductions in instructional supplies and materials.
The process to finalize notifying staff was scheduled to wrap up last week.
This week, the administration will meet with Gloucester Teachers Association leaders as dictated by contracts to go over expected cuts of teachers with professional status. Principals and supervisors would then inform staff and provide information on the process and next steps for each individual.
The week of April 29, the administration would have to determine if further cuts would be necessary based on talks with the city administration. The schools have until May 7 to inform any additional teachers with professional teacher status whose positions are planned for elimination.
Waiting to inform staff may keep everyone on edge, with the vast majority of the schools’ staff not at risk of losing their jobs, Lummis said.
“So we are trying to balance speed with the best information we have, our obligation in terms of our contracts and at the same time treating folks with compassion as well,” he said.
During the School Committee meeting, Lummis presented a slide showing areas of reductions including Tier 2 interventions, which support students in small groups, at all levels.
At the preK-5 level, the reductions would affect social emotional learning and mental health supports; at the middle school, it would mean the loss of the house structure; and at Gloucester High the loss of preparation and support for post-secondary success.
School Committee member Melissa Teixeira Prince asked what was meant by the inability to maintain the house structure, asking if this just meant larger class sizes. She said the loss of the house structure at the middle school was “scary.”
“Parents don’t want to hear that,” she said.
“It’s in jeopardy,” Lummis said. He said the house structure, while it adds to a sense of belonging with the same students sharing the same teachers, it constrains flexibility in terms of staffing.
Breaking apart the house structure allows flexibility in terms of fully loading all the classes. He said while the house structure is crucial, it’s something the administration has to look at given the level of cuts.
“It doesn’t mean at this point it’s definitely going to go away,” Lummis said.
He also outlined cuts to programs at a $1 million to $2 million level that would not be as deep. This list included delaying the medical assisting exploratory launch as part of the high school’s Career/Vocational Technical Education program until September 2025, along with specialists and electives, reduced staff in one or more core academic areas in the middle and high schools, along with delays in IT infrastructure improvements, among other things.
Prince said she was sensing the schools were facing at least $2 million in reductions.
“I don’t want any of this conversation to sugarcoat, like, there’s going to be a happy ending here because I don’t believe there is going to be a happy ending,” she said. “There are going to be cuts. There are going to be cuts that are going to hurt and this is a place we haven’t been in many years.”
Financial resources from the city “don’t appear to be there to make us whole at this day and time,” Prince said
A School Committee vote on a public hearing for the budget is scheduled for Wednesday, with a public hearing on the budget scheduled for May 8. The School Committee would then vote May 22 to submit the school budget to the mayor and City Council. Lummis said those dates could change.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.