PEABODY — The City Council voted 8-0 Thursday to pass a $76.6 million school budget for fiscal year 2022.
“I’m excited about what’s to come,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala. “We’ve worked hard on this budget and it’s a good one.”
Vadala said the budget includes step and lane increases for teachers, maintains adequate staff levels and accounts for updated health insurance and out-of-district tuition increases.
The budget, a slight increase over last year’s $74.9 million budget, includes several new positions, including one English and one math teacher at the high school; special education, English as a second language (ESL), reading and general instruction positions at the Higgins Middle School; three new special education positions and one general education position in the elementary schools; three school adjustment counselors; three school psychologists; an education-stability liaison; two ESL teachers; one building-access position and one director of early education.
Councilor-at-Large Jon Turco said that while he had some concerns regarding the sustainability of additional positions, he supported the budget, adding “it looks like you threw everything at it — including the kitchen sink — which was the right thing to do.”
“All these added positions address the learning loss we had with COVID,” said Vadala. “Through attrition and positive changes in the way state funding is calculated, we will be able to absorb these positions. The fact is, this first year we need to double down to meet the needs of the students. It’s not ideal, but it’s needed.”
In addition to the amount appropriated by the council, the district also will rely on $4.1 million in ESSER 2 (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds and two other grants as well as approximately $100,000 in unused ESSER 1 funds leftover from FY21 — which must be spent by September — bringing the total available funds to $80.7 million. The district is also slated to receive $7.5 million in ESSER 3 funds in FY23 and FY24.
Vadala said that the budget process focused primarily on pandemic return and recovery and students’ holistic needs, with learning loss and mental health at the forefront. The district also focused on identifying key outside funding sources to prevent reductions or cuts to services and to prevent the overburdening of city finances.
Councilor-at-Large Tom Rossignoll asked for clarification on the three new psychologist positions who will be replacing outside contractors.
“We feel it’s always better having them in the building as opposed to on the outside,” said Vadala, adding that each position is budgeted at $65,000.
Ward 5 Councilor Joel Saslaw expressed his concern about P.R.E.P. (Peabody’s Personalized Remote Education Program), the district’s new remote learning academy which is slated to start this fall.
“I’m proud we got the kids back into the building as soon as possible, but it seems like every time we open one of these academies, we need not more teachers, but administrators,” Saslaw said.
Vadala said that approximately 90 students have registered for P.R.E.P., a number he expects to increase to 100-120 students. As currently structured, there will be five teachers and one administrator assigned to the program.
“We have a number of families who simply are not ready to come back,” he said. “We want to keep these kids in our schools. We don’t want them choosing another option, like transferring to a different school.”
Councilor-at-Large Tom Gould congratulated Vadala on his presentation.
“You are on your game,” Gould said. “I’m impressed with your wealth of knowledge and transparency.”
A discussion about Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School ensued after Saslaw asked how many Peabody students attend the school.
“We used to have about 10 a year, but now the number is up to 75-80,” Mayor and School Committee Chair Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. said, adding that of the 220 Peabody students who applied to Essex Tech this year, only 80 were accepted.
“We’ve always had kids go to (St. John’s) Prep and Fenwick, but the high school is the biggest reason why kids want to go to Essex Tech, which is brand new, and we don’t have that here,” Bettencourt said. “We need to change that.
“The challenges have been many this year,” said Bettencourt. “Brighter days are ahead.”
