Saugus panel backs superintendent’s reduction plan

SAUGUS – The Saugus School Committee voted 4-0 Thursday to support Superintendent Richard Langlois’ four-tiered reduction plan that eliminates 14 positions in the district.Langlois said the plan presents “a myriad of problems”; however, he noted, it still maintains the integrity of the schools.”It affects programs, it affects kids, it affects everything,” said Langlois. “There’s some substantial loss of positions. There are some things lost in the top tiers we were anticipating going forward.”The reductions eliminate $1.7 million in three tiers from the school’s $27.4 million budget that the School Committee passed in January. This will meet the level-funded budget passed by the Board of Selectmen, which has the school receiving $25.7 million for FY13, the same as it did in FY12.The proposal also lists an additional fourth tier and a contingency tier with $200,000 in cuts below the level-funded budget if the $400,000 police and fire arbitration award is passed by Town Meeting. This cuts a full-time high school and elementary school teacher.School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said the cuts will hurt, but noted the committee will revisit the budget once Town Meeting approves it.”We’re not OK,” said Reed. “I hear the comment that, ‘They’re OK.’ But we’re not. It’s cutting $1.7 million from what we have right now. Can we get through a year? Probably. Is it going to hurt? Yes. Will it be harder to rebuild? Yes.”The first tier cuts five positions requested in the original school budget, including a high school teacher, a special education teacher and an executive director of curriculum for $260,000.Tier two lists $746,000 in reductions, including cuts to busing by $55,000, which would restore busing to the state minimum of two miles for grades K through six. It also eliminates five full-time pre-K and kindergarten paraprofessionals and cuts $25,000 from athletics.Tier three cuts an additional $701,000 with the elimination of seven full-time positions, including a guidance counselor, a custodian, an elementary school teacher, two early childhood teachers and two paraprofessionals.In other business, Langlois announced that Executive Director of Finance and Operations Sam Rippin submitted his letter of resignation, effective in August, after accepting the position of Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations at Billerica Schools.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].