Athletic director part of $2M in Saugus school cuts

SAUGUS – The School Committee begrudgingly voted to make about $2 million in cuts, including the position of athletic director.Athletic Director Robert O?Leary left the room as the committee voted 4-1 to approve Superintendent Michael Tempesta?s budget with no changes, with committee member Arthur Grabowski voting no.Tempesta planned for Vice Principal Michael Nelson, the former athletic director, to take on O?Leary?s responsibilities and become a half-time athletic director and vice principal. But at the start of the committee?s regular meeting Thursday, Nelson stood and protested that change.Nelson said the two roles were not the kind that could be combined and that there was a reason that they were each two full-time jobs on their own. “If I?m in (a meeting), I can?t leave the meeting to go cancel a bus with 30 to 60 kids and parents waiting to go,” he said.Nelson said though he worked as athletic director for six years in Saugus, his passion was no longer for scheduling games, league meetings and busing but for the safety of Saugus students.O?Leary echoed Nelson, emphasizing that the workload would be too much for a part-time position, knowing well because he had attempted a shared transportation-athletic director role at another time in his life and “it did not work.”Tempesta said he had not yet figured out how to split O?Leary?s position among the half-time vice principals.Committee member Vincent Serino was adamant about keeping O?Leary?s position but admitted, in the end, that he couldn?t find a way. “It?s very disheartening. It?s not anyone?s fault,” said Serino, adding that making cuts was making him “physically sick.”Vice Chairman Jeannie Meredith added that the committee was “still fighting for the kids.”Other positions cut included a Belmonte Middle School librarian and the elementary school Spanish teacher, Alyssa Barris, who took the podium at the beginning of the meeting to protest. “It?s unfair to everybody in this situation,” she said.Serino and Arthur Grabowski struggled to accept Tempesta?s new director of operations, a position Tempesta said would combine planning and transportation into one executive position salaried at $105,000 a year. The two were upset that Tempesta had hired someone for the position without consulting the committee.?I?m insulted that we?re paying him $105,000, and we?re cutting teachers,” said Serino.Grabowski said while the executive administration table at committee meetings was getting bigger, other department budgets were shrinking. He made a motion to not fund the director of operations, but the motion failed.Chairman Wendy Reed, a longtime member of the committee, said this year?s budget cycle was one of the worst she had seen, and she was concerned over the length of time it would take to restore the cuts. Tempesta said the committee could institute a regular item on its meeting agenda to hear updates on the restoration. Meredith requested that the committee and Tempesta hold a meeting to talk about priorities for restoration.Both Meredith and Reed said the school needed to find a way to bring in revenue to avoid budget problems in the future.?In this town it feels like people put the school last, and that?s frustrating,” said Serino.