Peabody slated to lay off elementary school teachers

PEABODY – Seven elementary teachers’ positions were eliminated this week as the School Committee continued trying to balance its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.Superintendent C. Milton Burnett said the cuts are only potential reductions and nothing is cast in stone yet.If implemented, the cuts approved by the School Committee would eliminate a second- and fourth-grade teacher at the Burke School, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at the Carroll School, a second-grade teacher at the Center School, one third-grade teacher from the South School and a third-grade teacher at the Welch School. The staff reductions at the elementary level are expected to save $301,000 and Burnett said more cuts are needed to balance the $59.48 million budget.The School Committee also approved cutting $70,000 in instructional and technology equipment, $261,870 in instructional supplies, $12,000 in maintenance supplies, $46,948 in utilities and $100,180 in teacher training/curriculum.Burnett said the elementary schools would not be the only ones affected by staff reductions. His proposed budget includes eliminating an additional 20 teacher positions, nine paraprofessionals and 21 support staff positions, but the School Committee has not voted on those cuts yet.”We’re going forward looking at a number of middle school teachers and some reductions at the high school,” he said. “We’re looking at potentially having to increase user fees.”Burnett said his recommended budget cuts the $4.6 million needed to balance the budget and the School Committee is tackling his list of recommended cuts one by one.Burnett said he was instructed to come up with a level funded budget, which is difficult considering fixed costs including utilities are increasing and contractual agreements with the unions.Burnett said the contracts with the unions expired in August 2007 and agreements were recently reached with some of the unions.”The majority of them have been settled or are being settled,” he said. “So this budget includes adjustments we are going forward to bring salaries to new scale. Some of this is projection because not all contracts have been settled but I expect it to be an increase in the vicinity of $3.5 million and I have to find that in a level funded budget.”Burnett said he did not include any potential stimulus funds in his budget because the district does not know how much it would get, when it would receive money or what any funds received could be used for.