Andover considers cutting 36 school employees due to budget gap following teacher strike
ANDOVER – As the Newton School Committee and Newton Teachers Association were getting close to a deal on Thursday, February 1st, School Committee Chair Chris Brezski cryptically warned in a press conference that Newton would not become like other districts who "proposed to lay 4% of their staff to fund a contract they couldn't afford." The district he was talking about is Andover.
Andover teachers went on strike for five days – three school days – back in November. Now, in its budget meetings, the school committee says there is a $2.7 million budget deficit, and one of the proposed fixes is to cut 36 full time school positions.
"At the end of the day, the money is there," said Andover Education Association First VP Julian DiGloria. "It comes down to will on the part of the school committee to actually advocate at town meeting or to push back on the town manager and basically say, 'look the schools in this town are one of the reasons that people move here.'"
The town has committed to limited school budget increases to 3.75% each year – and with the new teachers' contract, the town exceeds that cap by $2.7 million. The school committee could push to advocate for a bigger budget, but it would conflict with the town's long term budget plans.
The challenge in Andover is a major facet in the growing trend of teachers' strikes statewide – which are illegal in Massachusetts. Paying teachers better wages often means crunching budgets in other places. "It's potentially any job in the district," explained Andover School Committee Chair Tracey Spruce. "No final decisions have been made yet."
Spruce was clear that the school committee warned the teachers union of the potential the contract could exceed the town's budget throughout the entire process of negotiations last year. "We are here whether we like it or not," she said. "None of us like it, but it's simple math and there is no way to balance a budget deficit of $2.7 million without reducing headcount."
Still, some parents in Andover say they'd be willing to pay more in taxes to guarantee their kids attend competitive public schools with reasonable class size. "It's hard when you live in a town where you don't think this is going to happen," said Andover Public Schools mother Kate Squillacioti. "[Great schools] are why you move to Andover."
The proposals are not final by any means. The school committee is considering other ways to come up with the money, like increased fees for extracurricular activities or bussing – but those proposals were met with negative reactions from committee members. The budget issues and proposed job cuts will be considered at several more school committee meetings before being finalized and sent to a vote in town meeting in April.
In the meantime, Andover teachers plan to rally outside their schools before classes this week to draw attention to the issue. "The school committee in Andover should be focusing on kids not cuts," AEA VP Julian DiGloria said. "And there's been no discussion about how we [can] get the money, it's just 'we don't we don't we don't have it.'"