Saugus agrees to fund schools

SAUGUS – Rather than handing out pink slips in May, Superintendent Richard Langlois is looking for a little financial commitment from town officials and he may have gotten it.In the past, due to an uncertain budget, former Superintendent Keith Manville had been forced to lay teachers off in May only to hire them back in June or July once the budget was passed.Langlois is hoping to avoid that this year, but to do so he needs an $800,000 commitment from the town. Town Manager Andrew Bisignani proposed a level funded budget for the School Department but that doesn’t cover contractual increases.Town Meeting opens May 1 but it has never tackled the budget prior to June.Knowing the proposed budget won’t cover his expenses, Langlois would be forced to pink slip teachers unless he can get a firm commitment on the $800,000.School Committee member Wendy Reed said she believes Langlois got his commitment during a recent Finance Committee meeting.Reed said Langlois explained the timing situation and asked for a commitment and both Bisignani and the committee agreed to support him.”There was no vote but they did verbally commit,” she said. “It was quite exciting. I’ve never seen that happen.”Bisignani said Wednesday that he is committed to funding the gap, he’s just not sure how he’s going to do it.”I’ve committed $200,000 so far and I’m working on some more,” he said. “This is a work in process.”Bisignani said with so much volatility on both the state and federal level, the budget could change at any time.Langlois said the Finance Committee also agreed to help by trying its best to vote on the School Department’s budget prior to May. While Town Meeting has the final say on the budget, Langlois said support from both the Finance Committee and Bisignani would give him enough comfort to stave off the pink slips.Langlois, however, said the Finance Committee didn’t out and out promise the $800,000 and not getting the money, he added, “will destroy us.”But he said the dialogue at the meeting left him confident that everyone is working to get the schools at least the $800,000.”I’m counting on them to bring this to fruition in a timely manner,” he said.If not, he is afraid his laid off teachers will go elsewhere.”We’ve spent all this time being very selective. I want to keep what I have,” he said. “We’re at 97 percent highly qualified.”Having 100 percent highly qualified teachers in the classroom is the benchmark set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Highly qualified means a teacher is licensed and competent in the subject they teach, which is done through testing.Reed said she understands the final decision lies with Town Meeting, which ultimately decides the budget, but she is still excited by the level of concern everyone seems to be showing for the school system.