Saugus teachers support ELT grant

SAUGUS – The Saugus Educators Association helped move the district one step closer to having an extended school day at the Belmonte Middle School when it voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to support the Expanded Learning Time grant.As a requirement for the grant, SEA members had to vote whether to support the grant. Superintendent Richard Langlois was thrilled with the outcome.”We delivered three copies this morning,” he said regarding the finalized grant application. “They only needed one.”Langlois said to just make sure all bases were covered, they faxed, emailed and hand delivered the grant that, if approved would bring $936,000 to the beleaguered middle school. The ELT grant is aimed directly at extending the school’s academic day by approximately 1.2 hours.Langlois said just under 80 percent of the teachers voted to support the grant and he believes that once the rest of the teachers hear the full scope of the plan, they will sign onto it as well.And Langlois is optimistic that the district, despite pending cuts from the governor, will receive the grant. He said he is banking on the fact that the ELT grant is part of Gov. Deval Patrick’s educational package, which he takes very seriously.”I think it’s far down on his list (of cuts) because Massachusetts is on the forefront of ELT,” Langlois said. “People in other states are watching us. They’re trying to mirror Massachusetts.”He will find out in a month or two if the grant is approved then he will need to hear if there is funding available to fulfill it. Langlois said he is also optimistic about the funding.While 60 districts have applied for the grant, Langlois said he knows a number of them won’t make it past the approval process because they either lack a vote of support from the teacher’s union or a vote of support from the School Committee.He said it is also his understanding that the state is looking to expand the ELT program into more districts, which will also play into Saugus’ favor. Revere has the grant for two of its schools and has petitioned to add two more. Saugus, however, is looking to add the grant to address real needs.Langlois said BMS officials are putting together two budgets for the school, one that includes the grant and one that doesn’t because the school day with the grant will look significantly different.Some, but not all teachers will be required to work longer days. Langlois said the class schedule will be restructured with some classes stretching out longer, common prep time added for teachers, and classes like foreign language and technology added back into the schedule. Enrichment classes will be added to the end of the day, which will land closer to 4 p.m. than 2:30 p.m.Langlois said he is also looking to add school adjustment counselors and a library specialist so the school can reopen the library and electronically update it.He also said it is important for town officials to realize that the additional grant money is to supplement the regular budget, it cannot be used to supplant it.”They can’t cut our budget to cover things with the grant,” he said.Langlois said even if the district doesn’t receive the grant, it is still an exciting time.”It’s great just to get to this moment,” he said. “I’m really happy it’s brought everyone together – it’s brought life there. The real coup now would be to get it.”