After hearing from dozens of teachers, parents and students, the School Committee is considering approving a new budget for next school year that “fully funds” Marblehead schools, despite receiving an allocation from the town that would require $2.3 million in cuts.
The School Committee hosted a community budget hearing at the Veterans School Performing Arts Center on March 21, where interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness presented level-service and level-funded budgets, as directed by the town. The level-funded budget would require 36 staff layoffs, as well as deep cuts in programs and supplies.
Parents stood up to ask the School Committee and town leaders to commit to giving the district the budget it needs with no more cuts.
“Marblehead schools have been working on a shoestring budget for far too long,” said Hannah Brennan. “We need the town Finance Committee to make it work. We need the School Committee to make it work.”
One mom with students at Village and Brown schools addressed teachers directly.
“Hearing your testimonies over the last couple of months about the working conditions in our schools is heartbreaking,” she said. “We cannot have a strong Marblehead community if our schools are in crisis.”
Several young students also rose to thank their teachers for their commitment, hard work and for “making learning fun.”
Many of the speakers were Marblehead educators. Kristen Grohe is a special education teacher at Village.
“I love my job. I also absolutely love this town,” she said. “I no longer feel pride. I just feel shame. Shame that my family lives in a town that cannot find a way to support its young people in their fundamental right to learn in the least restrictive environment. Shame that we continue to cut a budget that simply cannot afford to be cut.
Grohe continued, “So, we are asking the town and the School Committee to fully fund our schools so we can retain the best qualified staff so we can return to pride instead of shame,” Grohe added.
Meghann Bruett has taught third grade in Marblehead for 21 years.
“Over the past three years, the job has changed,” she said. “I still love seeing my students every day. It is challenging and almost impossible because we don’t have the resources and supports we need to teach these children.”
“It wasn’t always like this,” Bruett continued. “You can see it on everyone’s faces at work. Morale is down. We’re asking to have funding to do our jobs safely and effectively.”
Marblehead High School teacher Michael Fu said, “All I see is a town bleeding money from bad decisions. Without an adequate budget, we will continue to have system issues.”
Fu added, “The magician is a fitting mascot for our schools. What teachers are doing to support students is nothing short of magical.”
The School Committee has not yet decided whether to ask for a property tax increase (override) at Town Meeting on May 6. At the budget hearing, several people asked the committee members what they would do to convince the majority of residents (especially those without kids in the schools) to vote for a tax increase.
Fox and Schaeffner explained that there are rules limiting what the School Committee can do to lobby for an override.
“It really does have to be a community person, and you people, and usually it’s parents,” Schaeffner said. “You have your contacts; we have our contacts. We can try to reach out to parent leaders. We can work with the parent leadership groups that we have.”
Cuts, higher taxes aren’t only choices
Fox pointed out that cuts and higher taxes are not the only two options.
“The School Committee is allowed to vote a budget that we feel meets the needs of the Marblehead Public Schools,” she said. “We don’t have to only vote what is our suggested allocation. There is a precedent in other towns of voting the number you feel represents what is needed to fund our schools.”
At a meeting with the Finance Committee earlier that day, Fox had brought up the idea of a third, “fully funded” budget, higher than the amount allocated by the town.
Fox told the crowd at the budget hearing that there may be “other mechanisms” to increase school funding, including re-examining the district’s own reserve and revolving funds to see if there are any dollars there that can be moved to the budget.
“We can go back to the town and say, ‘You have stabilization funds’ take a look at your (revenue) projections. Do you think you were super conservative?’”
‘No fat to trim’
Town Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin Nunley said the town does not have any more money to allocate to the schools.
“There is no fat to trim,” she told the Current by email. “The town cut a police officer position. The town reallocated costs to revolving funds as a one-time expense to balance the budget. The trash cost increased 20%, retirement increased 9%, and health insurance increased 10%. Inflation is outpacing Proposition 2 1/2, as presented at the finance forum.”
She added, “If the school department of the town needs additional funding, they can request an override at Town Meeting.”
The FinCom is expected to vote on the School Committee’s budget on April 1, but Fox is hoping there can be a delay so that she and her fellow members can put together an alternate plan.
When asked what would happen if the School Committee brings a larger budget to Town Meeting, Moderator Jack Attridge told the Current, “Any change in one line item would trigger a change in one or more line items.”
Teacher contracts
Teachers’ contracts expire this summer, and the union, Marblehead Education Association, has started negotiations for a new contract with the School Committee. The average Marblehead teacher salary in 2023 was $83,338, according to the Department of Early and Secondary Education. That’s among the lowest teacher salaries in Essex County.
The MEA asked the School Committee to hold negotiations in public, to improve transparency with the community. However, the School Committee rejected that idea. Member Alison Taylor said she is fine with open negotiations, but “that may be different than what our legal counsel suggested…”
Mold threat
MEA Co-President and Village School teacher Jonathan Heller spoke about mold discovered at Marblehead High School.
“We learned that this kind of mold feeds and spreads quickly and is highly dangerous,” Heller said. “It can trigger infections, asthma, allergies, skin and nail infections, nosebleeds and headaches.”
At a March 13 School Committee meeting, McGuinness reported that mold had been identified in a classroom and other locations at the high school. She said it had been remediated by school custodians.
“So, I have some questions,” Heller asked at the hearing. “Why didn’t the district hire a professional to remediate… Was post-remediation testing ever completed? How is MPS going to ensure the health and safety of MPS staff and students?”
Heller added that his daughter is scheduled to attend MHS next year, but he’s concerned about her well-being there.
“To put her into a building like that and have her sit there during the school day? I really am afraid for her health,” he said.
***This article was updated at 3:15 p.m. to reflect that it was School Committee member Alison Taylor who said that the committee’s legal counsel may disagree with her own personal opinion that union contract negotiations should be public.
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.
