LYNN — The School Committee met in person on Thursday night for the first time in more than 15 months, discussing the staff and curriculum additions included in the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget.
The FY22 budget received an increase of more than $10 million from last year, totaling $180.7 million, which allows for the district to hire 200 new positions to support student needs.
These positions consist primarily of direct-service professional positions in special education, English as a second language (ESL) and social-emotional components.
The district is also utilizing funds from the state Student Opportunity Act (SOA) — which provides an infusion of new funding to Massachusetts public schools — as well as an increase of more than $14 million in Chapter 70 funds for FY22.
The SOA was passed in 2019, but delayed due to the pandemic; it requires certain districts to spend more on their local schools through a seven-year commitment, which addresses longtime issues in the districts.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler presented the FY22 budget at Thursday night’s meeting and highlighted the proposed additions reflecting the SOA plan and strategic objectives.
In this budget, Tutwiler said the district plans to increase personnel to support holistic student needs by the addition of 19 social workers and three school adjustment counselors.
“We advised plans for additional social workers that allows at least one social worker per grade in the secondary schools and two social workers at the larger elementary schools and at least one at every other elementary school,” Tutwiler said.
With an existing, evidence-based inclusion model, Tutwiler said another first-year focus for the allotment of the SOA funds is to “fundamentally and comprehensively address long-standing service delivery shortcomings in special education based exclusively on understaffing.”
The FY22 budget includes the addition of 31 positions in special education, which Tutwiler said will allow the district to provide more reliable services which coincide with students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and allows them to meet timelines better.
Another priority for funding revolves around improving English proficiency among English language learners (ELL).
The FY22 budget will add 11 ESL teachers, which Tutwiler said will allow the district to maintain existing caseloads at a minimum in the upcoming year, and decrease them in some cases.
In the realm of instruction, the district intends to add 16 technology teachers to allow students to engage deeper in technological skills and digital literacy.
In addition, Tutwiler said the district plans to add an administrative-level position to exclusively focus on family and community engagement.
There will also be a parent liaison added to every school — two in the larger schools — as well as a new position in the Welcome Center in the city’s school administration building.
“We see this as a big step forward related to strategic objective No. 4, which is focused on family and community partnerships,” Tutwiler said.
The budget proposal also calls for the addition of an assistant director of curriculum for English/language arts (ELA) and reading, one with an elementary focus and another with a secondary focus.
The position of assistant director of curriculum will also be offered for mathematics, with one in elementary and one in secondary education — although Tutwiler said the current focus for this initiative is to fill these positions at the elementary level.
“I envision these leaders working closely with one another to ensure a seamless and rich experience for students at all levels in a more supportive model to help the delivery of instruction,” Tutwiler said.
Tutwiler said he is adding these new positions because there are significant learning gaps in education in these subjects; he added that the district may branch out to other subjects in the future.
The budget also consists of an additional $208,000 directed toward translational services, which Deputy Superintendent Debra Ruggiero said has been underfunded to begin with.
Ruggiero said schools have been using student and parent liaisons during parent conferences to translate, which she said isn’t supposed to be done because these liaisons are not trained or certified translators.
The district is currently using Lionsbridge — a company that provides in-person and phone translation services — and said they are hoping to eventually help parent liaisons to become certified translators, which Ruggiero said is an intense process.
“We really need to formalize how we translate for our families, because it needs to be the right caliber translation,” Ruggiero said.
Tutwiler also said that students will return to full-time, in-person classes in the fall, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is not requiring masks to be worn.
However, the district will continue to use Zoom for certain lessons and meetings, which Tutwiler said schools will continue to offer as a convenience for families, helping to maintain the families’ connection with the schools.
Tutwiler said he is confident in the FY22 budget, which will be discussed further in a public hearing in two weeks’ time.
