Lynn school funds meet may be battle royal

LYNN – With a special meeting of the whole scheduled for tonight, School Committee members have differing opinions on the preliminary school department budget.The $107 million-plus budget was released to committee members last Tuesday, when they were asked to read over cuts and bring suggestions back to Superintendent Catherine Latham and her budget team tonight.While some feel that the plan is the best it can be considering the current economic climate, others are more critical, claiming that students will suffer too much if the budget is passed.One thing that all of the members surveyed have in common is a fear of overcrowding and unmanageable class sizes as 99 teacher layoffs and one school closing, at the Ford Annex, loom this summer.”My biggest concern is areas I see with high class sizes, hopefully we can work with the budget to manage that,” said Committee Vice Chairman Patricia Capano. “I do have a lot of concerns. But I am well aware that if I am going to request a (teacher to ease class sizes) I am going to have to give up a (teacher somewhere else).”School Committee member Donna Coppola blasted the administration for a budget she says is “not at all about kids,” and criticized the closing of the annex as she worries that it will eventually lead to Ford returning to a K-5 school.”I am really concerned because we have made a lot of great strides in a lot of areas and this budget is just not at all about kids – it is actually harmful to our kids and their education,” she said. “I am concerned about some of the cuts at Lynn Tech. We are closing shops but what are we replacing them with? And the Ford School Annex, I know closing that will save us money but at what cost?”Educating kids isn’t easy, it is a hard job and we have to do it right.”Coppola’s primary concern with closing the Ford Annex is Latham’s comments that if the move of middle school kids back to Hollingsworth Street doesn’t work this year, the school could go back to a K-5 program.With the best middle school MCAS scores in the city, Coppola says that should not be an option.”I am disappointed (in the budget), angry really,” she said. “I am angry that we didn’t have a say. We have to come out with a budget that is perfect for the kids of Lynn. We need a lot of stuff that other communities don’t need to offer, as far as I am concerned I can’t look at any more cuts of teachers or programs for kids.”While Coppola criticized the department for not including School Committee members in negotiations, her colleague on the committee John Ford says he has been up to the administrative office several times since receiving the budget to speak with administrators and generate ideas.”I think they did a great job with the budget, I have a few questions, nothing major,” said Ford. “(Business Administrator Kevin McHugh) does a great job.”Ford has also been working with Ford Principal Claire Crane on easing the transition of the annex students back to the main building, but says a portable classroom that Crane requested may not be in the cards.A tight budget in bad economic times means sacrifices everywhere and Ford says he has been hearing from hoards of school employees and parents who have concerns about individual schools and says class sizes and keeping work manageable for teachers will be the district’s largest challenge.”The fact that I get calls from everywhere means that they spread the cuts around pretty well,” he said. “I am very concerned with (class sizes.) It is going to be tough on the teachers, as you would expect with a bare bones budget. But I don’t know what else we can do – we can’t create money and we can’t create buildings or classrooms without money.”The committee as a whole will meet tonight at 6 p.m. in the Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute to discuss the budgets, with members expected to raise several concerns. The meeting is open to the public.